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

J.K. Rowling’s first screenplay credit was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The film was released in 2016 and marked her screenwriting debut.

The story is set in 1920s New York, decades before the main Harry Potter novels. Its central character is Newt Scamander, a British magizoologist who arrives with a case containing magical creatures. The film expands the Wizarding World beyond Hogwarts and introduces adult political conflicts involving Gellert Grindelwald.

Rowling wrote the screenplay, while David Yates directed the film. Eddie Redmayne played Newt Scamander, with Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, and Alison Sudol among the principal cast.

The title comes from a fictional textbook that Harry and his classmates use at Hogwarts. The 2001 charity book and the 2016 film share a title, but the film is a new narrative rather than a screen adaptation of the textbook’s short catalogue.