Exciting news for J.K. Rowling fans: Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne has been confirmed as the star of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the upcoming movie trilogy based on the book from the Harry Potter series.
Warner Bros. Pictures announced on Monday that Redmayne will play Newt Scamander, the author of Hogwarts textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Newt Scamander is a magizoologist, a magical animals specialist, who journeys around the wizarding world and documents the beasts he encounters. J.K. Rowling will write the movie script herself, making her screenwriting debut. Harry Potter director David Yates (who worked on Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2) will return for the project, as will producer David Heyman, who worked on all eight of the Harry Potter films.
According to Rowling’s Facebook page, the upcoming films are “neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world.” The story is set in New York, 70 years before the adventures of Harry and his friends begin. The first chapter of the trilogy is set to be released in theaters worldwide on November 18, 2016.