Which screenplay did J.K. Rowling write as a prequel to the Harry Potter films?
Answer
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as a prequel to the Harry Potter films.
Released in 2016, the film is set decades before Harry’s birth and follows magizoologist Newt Scamander in 1926 New York. It expands the wizarding world beyond Hogwarts and introduces characters including Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore in earlier periods of their lives.
The title was first used for a fictional Hogwarts textbook attributed to Newt Scamander. Rowling later wrote the film screenplay herself, making it her screenwriting debut. The film began a planned series that continued with The Crimes of Grindelwald and The Secrets of Dumbledore.
The Cursed Child is a stage play, not a screenplay by Rowling, while Quidditch Through the Ages is a companion book. The film’s title therefore refers both to a fictional book and to the movie series launched in 2016.