Which J.K. Rowling screenplay introduced the film series set in the wizarding world before Harry Potter’s era?

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them introduced the film series set in the wizarding world before Harry Potter’s era.

Released in 2016, the film was written by J.K. Rowling in her screenwriting debut. It follows magizoologist Newt Scamander in 1926 New York, where magical creatures escape from his case and become entangled with a conflict involving the American wizarding community.

The movie is a spin-off and prequel to the Harry Potter films. Its story takes place decades before Harry begins at Hogwarts and introduces characters including Newt Scamander, Tina Goldstein, Queenie Goldstein, Jacob Kowalski, and Gellert Grindelwald.

The title is shared with the fictional Hogwarts textbook attributed to Newt Scamander. Rowling had previously published a short companion book using that title in 2001. The film is therefore not an adaptation of a full earlier novel; it expands a brief fictional textbook into an original screenplay and became the first entry in a planned film series.