Which film series did J.K. Rowling write the screenplay for, beginning with its 2016 first film?

J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for the Fantastic Beasts film series, beginning with its first film in 2016.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released in 2016 and marked Rowling’s screenwriting debut. The film follows Newt Scamander, a British magizoologist whose magical creatures escape in 1920s New York City.

The film shares the Wizarding World setting with Harry Potter but is set decades earlier. It also expands the history of Albus Dumbledore and his former friend and rival Gellert Grindelwald. Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, while the original film features Colin Farrell, Katherine Waterston, and Dan Fogler.

The first film’s title comes from a Hogwarts textbook mentioned in the Harry Potter novels. Unlike that brief in-universe textbook, Rowling’s screenplay created a new narrative and characters. The series ultimately released three films between 2016 and 2022.