Author J. K. Rowling’s fantastical Wizarding World which she created for her series of Harry Potter books may be one of the most resonant fictional creations with readers since J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Indeed, the way Rowlings continues to dole out information about her creation years after the last Harry Potter novel hit the stands is reminiscent of the way Tolkien would answer questions about character histories and motivations when asked by fans.
But while Tolkien continued to expand his creation in notes and essays that his son would eventually organize and release in a series of books following his death, Rowling has fleshed out the Wizarding World by penning the screenplay for the upcoming Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. The title comes from a book that Harry and his friends read while studying magic at Hogwarts and the movie will tell the story of how the book’s author, Newt Scamander, came to write the tome. EW has the first photos from the film which is due out next year as well we the first synopsis of the story.
This case is one of those way-way-way-bigger-on-the-inside magical devices, and within are expansive habitats for a collection of rare and endangered magical creatures from Newt’s travels around globe. He discovers the American wizarding community is fearfully hiding from Muggles (who are called “No-Maj” in the States) and the threat of public exposure is an even graver concern than in the UK (remember the Salem witch trials?). Fantastic Beasts is the story of what happens when this uniquely skilled English wizard travels to wiz-phobic America and a variety of his creatures, some quite dangerous … get out of their case.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them stars Eddie Redmayne as Scamander, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol and Dan Fogler and appears on screens November 18, 2016.
