Which film was J.K. Rowling’s first credited screenplay?

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was J.K. Rowling’s first credited screenplay.

Released in 2016, the film was written by Rowling and directed by David Yates. It expands the wizarding world beyond the Harry Potter story and is set mainly in New York in 1926. Eddie Redmayne plays magizoologist Newt Scamander, whose magical creatures escape from his case and cause trouble in the city.

The title comes from a fictional Hogwarts textbook attributed to Newt Scamander. Rowling had previously published a short charity companion book under that title in 2001, but the film is a new story rather than a direct adaptation of that textbook. Its screenplay marked her move into original feature-film screenwriting.

The movie began a film series connected to the history of Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. Its follow-ups were The Crimes of Grindelwald, released in 2018, and The Secrets of Dumbledore, released in 2022.