Which 2016 film was written by J.K. Rowling as a Harry Potter spin-off?

J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for the 2016 film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Released in 2016, the film is set in the wizarding world created by Rowling but takes place decades before the main Harry Potter story. Its central character is Newt Scamander, a magizoologist who arrives in 1920s New York with a case of magical creatures.

The film was directed by David Yates and starred Eddie Redmayne as Newt. It was Rowling’s screenwriting debut, adapting the title of a fictional Hogwarts textbook that first appeared as a prop and companion book in the Harry Potter franchise.

The title can cause confusion because the film shares its name with the fictional textbook. The film is a narrative prequel spin-off, while the earlier book is a short companion work presented as a textbook attributed to Newt Scamander.