Categories: Movie News

Eddie Redmayne Takes His Oscar-Winning Talents to ‘HARRY POTTER’ Spin-Off ‘FANTASTIC BEASTS’

Preston Barta // Features Editor

While we’re not getting another HARRY POTTER film, we can at least return to its wonderful wizarding world.

Warner Bros has announced that Academy Award-winning actor Eddie Redmayne (THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING) has been cast as Newt Scamander in Warner Bros. Pictures’ much-anticipated adventure FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM.

Redmayne will play J.K. Rowling’s creation Newt Scamander, the Wizarding World’s preeminent magizoologist, who in his travels has encountered and documented a myriad of magical creatures, ultimately leading to his penning the Hogwarts School textbook FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM.

In making the announcement, Greg Silverman (President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production at Warner Bros) said, “Redmayne has emerged as one of today’s most extraordinarily talented and acclaimed actors. We are thrilled to welcome him into J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, where we know he will deliver a remarkable performance as Newt Scamander, the central character in FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM.”

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM by J.K. Rowling.

Making her screenwriting debut on the film, J.K. Rowling has developed the character of Scamander and his primer—taken from her globally beloved Harry Potter series—to further explore the unique wizarding world she has crafted in print and bring it to life on screen.

David Yates, who directed the last four HARRY POTTER films and will direct FANTASTIC BEASTS, stated, “[Redmayne] is a fearless actor, brimming with invention, wit and humanity. I couldn’t be more excited about the prospect of working with him as we start this new adventure in J.K. Rowling’s wonderful world, and I know she feels the same way.”

The film is being produced by David Heyman, producer of all eight of the blockbuster HARRY POTTER features; J.K. Rowling; Steve Kloves, who scripted all but one of the HARRY POTTER films; and Lionel Wigram, who served as an executive producer on the last four installments of the franchise.

Warner Bros. Pictures has slated FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM for worldwide release in 3D and IMAX on November 18, 2016.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Preston Barta

I have been working as a film journalist since 2010, dividing the first four years between radio broadcasting and entertainment writing in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In 2014, I entered Fresh Fiction (FreshFiction.tv) as the features editor. The following year, I stepped into the film critic position at the Denton Record-Chronicle, a daily North Texas print publication. My time is dedicated to writing theatrical film reviews, at-home entertainment columns, and conducting interviews with on-screen talent and filmmakers, as well as hosting a podcast devoted to genre filmmaking (called My Bloody Podcast). I've been married for ten happy years, and I have one son who is all about dinosaurs just like his dad.