Which film did J.K. Rowling write as the screenwriter of Fantastic Beasts?

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

Released in 2016, the film was directed by David Yates and starred Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander. It is set in 1926, decades before Harry Potter’s time, and begins when magical creatures escape in New York City. The story expands the wizarding world beyond Britain and Hogwarts.

The title comes from a fictional textbook that appears in the Harry Potter books. In the fictional bibliography, the textbook is written by Newt Scamander. Rowling first published a companion book with that title in 2001, but the 2016 movie is an original screenplay rather than a direct filming of that short reference work.

The film launched the Fantastic Beasts movie series. Its sequels were The Crimes of Grindelwald, released in 2018, and The Secrets of Dumbledore, released in 2022. Those titles are separate films, so the first film’s full title is the required answer.