Which screenplay did J.K. Rowling write for the first Fantastic Beasts film?
Answer
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for the first Fantastic Beasts film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Released in 2016, the film is set in 1926, decades before the Harry Potter novels. Its protagonist is Newt Scamander, a magizoologist whose magical creatures escape in New York City. Eddie Redmayne played Newt, with Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, and Colin Farrell among the principal cast.
The title comes from the fictional Hogwarts textbook that Rowling published in 2001 as a charity companion book. In the film series, Newt is presented as the book’s author, connecting the prequel story to the educational materials mentioned in Harry Potter.
The film was Rowling’s screenwriting debut. It began a five-film plan, although only three Fantastic Beasts films were released by 2022. The screenplay therefore differs from the original textbook, which is a short fictional reference work rather than a narrative film.