Which 2016 film was written by J.K. Rowling as a prequel to the Harry Potter series?

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was the 2016 film written by J.K. Rowling as a prequel to the Harry Potter series.

The film is set in New York City in 1926, decades before Harry Potter begins. It follows Newt Scamander, a British magizoologist whose suitcase contains magical creatures. Eddie Redmayne played Newt, with Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, and Alison Sudol among the principal cast.

The film’s title comes from a fictional Hogwarts textbook mentioned in Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel. In the story, the textbook is written by Newt Scamander. Rowling expanded that brief fictional reference into an original screenplay and a wider film series.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was directed by David Yates and released in November 2016. It was followed by The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018 and The Secrets of Dumbledore in 2022.