Eddie Redmayne will star in Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Warner Bros has officially confirmed.
The actor will play pre-eminent Wizarding World magizoologist, Newt Scamander, who writes the famous Hogwarts School textbook that gives the film its title.
JK Rowling is making her screenwriting debut on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
The film’s director David Yates said: “Eddie is a fearless actor, brimming with invention, wit and humanity.”
David Yates added: “I couldn’t be more excited about the prospect of working with him as we start this new adventure in JK Rowling’s wonderful world, and I know she feels the same way.”
JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts book, which was published in 2001, is set 70 years before the events of her bestselling Harry Potter series.
The movie follows the adventures of magizoologist Newt Scamander – a specialist in magical animals – who travels the Wizarding World to document the beasts he encounters.
Newt Scamander writes a book – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – which is then studied years later by Hogwarts students such as Harry, Ron and Hermoine.
David Yates previously directed the final four Harry Potter films, while producer David Heyman – who worked on all eight of the blockbusters – will produce the film.
Greg Silverman from Warner Bros Pictures said they were “thrilled” to have cast Eddie Redmayne – who had been widely rumored to take the part – calling him “one of today’s most extraordinarily talented and acclaimed actors”.
Earlier this year Eddie Redmayne won the best actor Oscar, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for his performance as Stephen Hawking in biopic The Theory of Everything.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is expected to be released in 3D and Imax worldwide on November 18, 2016.
Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is to be made into a film trilogy.
JK Rowling’s book, published in 2001, was originally billed as one of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts textbooks.
Warner Bros chief Kevin Tsujihara persuaded JK Rowling to adapt the book for the big screen.
Last week, he told the New York Times there would be a trilogy of films based on the book, which follows a “magizoologist” named Newt Scamander.
Newt Scamander is the author of a guide to magical creatures. Set in New York, the book is neither a sequel nor a prequel, but an “extension” of Harry Potter’s “wizarding world”, JK Rowling said.
Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is to be made into a film trilogy
Last month, JK Rowling told actress Emma Watson, who played Hermione Grainger in the Harry Potter films, that she completed the draft script in 12 days.
JK Rowling herself told the newspaper that it was Kevin Tsujihara – who took over the role of CEO at Warner Bros last year – who persuaded her to adapt the book.
“We had one dinner, a follow-up telephone call, and then I got out the rough draft that I’d thought was going to be an interesting bit of memorabilia for my kids and started rewriting,” the author told the New York Times.
“When Kevin got the top job, he brought a new energy, which rubbed off. He’s a very engaging person, thoughtful and funny.”
The project, which was first announced in September 2013, will be produced by Harry Potter regular David Heyman, whose recent successes include Gravity.
“I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it,” said JK Rowling when the film was announced last year.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was written by JK Rowling between the publication of the fourth and the fifth books in the Harry Potter series. It is set 70 years before we first meet Harry Potter.
More than 450 million copies of JK Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books have been sold worldwide.
Aside from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, JK Rowling also wrote the short book Quidditch Through the Ages – another of Harry Potter’s schoolbooks. They were published in aid of Comic Relief.
Another Harry Potter spin-off book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, followed in December 2008.
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