Which J.K. Rowling screenplay introduced the wizarding world of Fantastic Beasts in 2016?
Answer
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
The 2016 J.K. Rowling screenplay that introduced the Fantastic Beasts film series was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
The film follows Newt Scamander, a magizoologist who arrives in New York City in 1926 with a suitcase containing magical creatures. Several of the creatures escape, leading Newt into a conflict involving wizarding secrecy, American magical authorities, and the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
Rowling wrote the screenplay, making it her first screenwriting credit. The story is set decades before Harry Potter’s school years and expands the wider wizarding history rather than adapting one of the seven Harry Potter novels. Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, while Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, and Alison Sudol are also central cast members.
The title echoes a Hogwarts textbook attributed to Newt Scamander. The film was followed by The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018 and The Secrets of Dumbledore in 2022.