Which J.K. Rowling book was adapted into her first screenplay for a feature film?

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was adapted into J.K. Rowling’s first screenplay for a feature film.

The 2016 film was written by Rowling and directed by David Yates. It expands a fictional Hogwarts textbook into a story about Newt Scamander, a magizoologist whose magical creatures escape in 1920s New York.

The film is set decades before Harry Potter’s school years and belongs to the Wizarding World franchise. Unlike the Harry Potter films, it was not adapted from an earlier full-length novel. Rowling wrote the screenplay specifically for the film project, making it her screenwriting debut for a feature movie.

The movie also introduces characters and historical conflicts connected with the wider magical world, including Gellert Grindelwald. It was followed by Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018 and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in 2022.