Eddie Redmayne officially joins Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Posted June 1 2015 — 8:26 PM EDT

End the speculation: Eddie Redmayne is Newt Scamander. Warner Bros. announced Monday that the Oscar-winning actor will play the lead in the first Harry Potter spinoff, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

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“Eddie Redmayne has emerged as one of today’s most extraordinarily talented and acclaimed actors,” Warner Bros. Pictures’ President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production Greg Silverman said in a statement. “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.”

Scamander is the “the Wizarding World’s preeminent magizoologist,” spending his time traveling the magical globe, documenting its creatures, and publishing a Hogwarts history textbook that Harry, Ron, and Hermoine slave over for hours on end. What’s being touted as a trilogy will see the first film written by Rowling herself, with David Yates—who helmed the last four Harry Potter installments—aboard to direct. It will be Rowling’s first screenplay.

“Eddie is a fearless actor, brimming with invention, wit and humanity,” Yates said in a statement. “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.”

Rowling and Yates aren’t the only two mainstays from the Harry Potter cinematic family. Fantastic Beasts will be produced by them, David Heyman (producer for all eight films), Steve Klove (writer of seven), and Lionel Wigram (executive producer for the last four).

The surely omnipresent feature is scheduled for a Nov. 18, 2016 release in 3D and IMAX.

‘Fantastic Beasts': Katherine Waterston Lands Female Lead in ‘Harry Potter’ Spinoff

JUNE 15, 2015 | 10:12AM PT
Justin Kroll
Film Reporter
@krolljvar
With Eddie Redmayne set as the male lead for J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter spinoff “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” Warner Bros. is firming up the rest of the film’s cast.

“Inherent Vice” actress Katherine Waterston has landed one of the female leads opposite Redmayne in the first installment of the new franchise, which is being planned as a trilogy.

Waterston will play the pivotal role of Tina, short for Porpentina, a witch who — unlike the beloved characters from Rowling’s Harry Potter books — works her magic in the U.S. She meets magizoologist Newt Scamander (Redmayne) when he stops in New York City on his travels to find and document magical creatures.

Two pivotal roles in the film have yet to be cast: Queenie, Tina’s younger sister, and Jacob, a rival of Scamander’s.

The studio is said to be looking for more established faces for the spinoff, unlike the newcomers they discovered for the original “Harry Potter” franchise.

David Yates is directing with Rowling making her screenwriting debut on the trilogy.

Set in New York roughly seven decades before Harry Potter’s saga starts, “Fantastic Beasts” is based on the Hogwarts textbook of the same name and follows the adventures of its author, Newt Scamander. Scamander is described as a “magiczoologist,” which in the “Harry Potter” realm is a person who studies magical creatures. Besides Scamander, there are four other main roles — two American girls and two American boys — that the studio is looking to cast.

“Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for 17 years, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the ‘Harry Potter’ series but an extension of the wizarding world,” Rowling explained.

The film is set to bow on Nov. 18, 2016.

Waterston is repped by UTA and Silver Lining Entertainment and can be seen next in Universal’s biopic “Jobs.”

FILED UNDER: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemHarry PotterJ.k. RowlingKatherine Waterston

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Posted June 15 2015 — 1:13 PM EDT

Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice) will star opposite Eddie Redmayne in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Warner Bros. Harry Potter spin-off. Waterston will play Porpentina—or Tina, for short—who meets Redmayne’s Newt Scamander and plays a pivotal role during his adventures in New York City.

“Katherine Waterston is a rising star, who was a revelation in our film Inherent Vice, earning the praise of both critics and audiences,” said Greg Silverman, Warner Bros.’ president of creative development and worldwide production. “We are thrilled to have her back in the Warner Bros. family, especially in one of our most anticipated titles for 2016, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

David Yates is directing the film, based on J.K. Rowling’s screenplay. The film is expected to open in theaters on Nov. 18, 2016.