Which screenwriting debut did J.K. Rowling make with Fantastic Beasts?

J.K. Rowling made her screenwriting debut with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Released in 2016, the film was written by Rowling and directed by David Yates. It expands the wizarding world beyond Harry Potter and is set mainly in New York City in 1926. Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, a magizoologist whose magical creatures escape from his case.

The title comes from a fictional Hogwarts textbook attributed to Newt Scamander. Rowling had previously published a charity companion book with that title in 2001, presented as a school text used by Hogwarts students. The film version develops that fictional author into its central character.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them began a film series planned around the history of Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore. Its screenplay marked Rowling’s move from novel writing into original feature-film screenwriting.