Which J.K. Rowling screenplay introduced the film series set before Harry Potter’s story?
Answer
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them introduced J.K. Rowling’s film series set before Harry Potter’s story.
Released in 2016, the film was written by Rowling and directed by David Yates. It follows Newt Scamander, a magizoologist whose magical creatures escape in 1926 New York. The story expands the wizarding world beyond Britain and takes place decades before Harry begins at Hogwarts.
The title comes from a Hogwarts textbook attributed to Newt Scamander. Rowling had previously published a short companion book with that title in 2001 for Comic Relief, but the film is an original prequel-era story rather than a direct adaptation of the textbook’s brief creature entries.
The film began a planned series and was followed by Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018 and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in 2022. Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander.