The main Harry Potter story may be over, but the franchise continues to live on through spinoffs. Making her screenwriting debut, author J.K. Rowling has penned Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, an all-new adventure set in her Harry Potter universe. Long-time Harry Potter director David Yates will helm the spinoff.
Today marks the beginning of principal photography. Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) stars as Newt Scamander, the wizarding world’s preeminent magizoologist, who stops in New York following his travels to find and document magical creatures. More on this story below.
Set 70 years before the events of the Harry Potter books, the movie will center on Newt’s documentation of numerous magical creatures and his discoveries, which would eventually become Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, a textbook that would be used in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice, The Man From U.N.C.L.E) will play the role of Tina, aka Porpentina, a witch who operates in the U.S. and meets Newt on his journey. Dan Fogler (Take Me Home Tonight, Mars Needs Moms) plays Jacob, a nonmagical person, or muggle, whom Newt befriends while on his adventure in New York. Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being A Wallflower, We Need To Talk About Kevin) and Alison Sudol (Amazon’s Transparent, USA’s Dig) also star; Sudol will play Queenie, the younger sister of Tina (Waterston), while Miller will play Kredan, a character who seems to have a magical connection to Newt, although that has yet to be confirmed. Colin Farrell also stars, though his role is unknown.
Warner Bros. Pictures has slated Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for worldwide theatrical release in 3D and IMAX on November 18, 2016.
Here’s the full press release from Warner Bros.:
Principal photography has begun on Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly anticipated feature “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” The all new adventure is set in the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling in her best-selling Harry Potter books, which were adapted into the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.
Filming started today, August 17, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, under the direction of David Yates, who helmed the last four “Harry Potter” feature films.
Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”) stars as Newt Scamander, the wizarding world’s preeminent magizoologist, who stops in New York following his travels to find and document magical creatures.
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” also stars Katherine Waterston (“Inherent Vice”) as Tina; Alison Sudol (“Dig,” “Transparent”) as Tina’s sister, Queenie; Tony Award winner Dan Fogler (“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”) as Jacob; Ezra Miller (“Trainwreck”) as Credence; two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (“In America,” “Sweet and Lowdown”) as Mary Lou; Jenn Murray (“Brooklyn”) as Chastity; young newcomer Faith Wood-Blagrove as Modesty; and Colin Farrell (“True Detective”) as Graves.
Marking the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, the script was inspired by her character Newt Scamander’s Hogwarts textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
The film is being produced by David Heyman, producer of all eight of the blockbuster “Harry Potter” features; J.K. Rowling; Steve Kloves; and Lionel Wigram.
Collaborating with Yates behind the scenes are: Oscar-winning director of photography Philippe Rousselot (“A River Runs Through It,” the “Sherlock Holmes” movies), three-time Oscar-winning production designer Stuart Craig (“The English Patient,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Gandhi,” the “Harry Potter” films), three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (“Chicago,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Alice in Wonderland”), Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Tim Burke (“Gladiator,” the “Harry Potter” films), Oscar-nominated visual effects supervisor Christian Manz (“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1″), and Yates’ longtime editor Mark Day (the last four “Harry Potter” films).
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