Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Teaser poster
Directed by	David Yates
Produced by	David Heyman J. K. Rowling Steve Kloves Lionel Wigram
Screenplay by	J. K. Rowling
Based on	Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them  by J. K. Rowling
Starring	Eddie Redmayne Katherine Waterston Alison Sudol Dan Fogler Samantha Morton Ezra Miller Colin Farrell Faith Wood-Blagrove Carmen Ejogo Jon Voight Ron Perlman
Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot
Edited by	Mark Day
Production company	Heyday Films
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	18 November 2016 (2016-11-18)
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$225 million

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, or simply Fantastic Beasts, is an upcoming 2016 British-American fantasy drama film inspired by the book of the same name by J. K. Rowling. A prequel/spin-off of the Harry Potter film series and directed by David Yates, the film was written by Rowling as her screenwriting debut. It is the first installment of a trilogy. Rowling produced the film alongside David Heyman, Steve Kloves, and Lionel Wigram. The film stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Samantha Morton, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell, Faith Wood-Blagrove, Carmen Ejogo, Jon Voight and Ron Perlman. Principal photography commenced on 17 August 2015, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is scheduled to be released on 18 November 2016 worldwide in the 3D and IMAX 4K Laser format.

Synopsis

The story revolves around Newt Scamander's (Eddie Redmayne) arrival at the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), for a meeting with an important official. Central to the story and this meeting is a magically expanded briefcase which houses a number of dangerous creatures and their habitats. When the creatures escape from the briefcase, it sends the American wizarding authorities after Newt, and it threatens even further strain the state of magical and non-magical relations, which is already in a dangerous place, due to the threatening presence of the fanatical New Salem Philanthropic Society, an extremist organization dedicated to the eradication of wizard-kind. The story tells of what effect this devastating mistake has on the state of wizard/No-Maj (the American term for a non-magical person) relations in New York City's community of wizards and witches in 1926, the effort to correct the mistake, and the horrors of the resultant increase in violence, fear, and tension felt between magical and non-magical peoples.

Cast

• Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander,^[1] an eccentric, introverted wizard, the film's lead, the author of the future textbook "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", and an employee at the British Ministry of Magic.
• Katherine Waterston as Porpentina "Tina" Goldstein,^[2] a down-to-earth and grounded witch and employee of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), who longs to fight for what's right. Forced to work in an office well below her skill level due to her standing up for the wrong person. Newt's love interest.
• Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein,^[3][4] Porpentina's younger sister and roommate, described as a bombshell. Free-spirited and big-hearted. An accomplished Legilimens.
• Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski, a No-Maj factory worker/aspiring baker who is exposed to the New York City magical community after he meets Newt. Pottermore has indicated that at the beginning of the film, Jacob is newly single.^[5]
• Samantha Morton as Mary Lou,^[6] the narrow-minded No-Maj and sinister leader of the New Salem Philanthropic Society (the NSPS, or "The Second-Salemers"), an extremist group whose goals include exposing and killing wizards and witches.
• Ezra Miller as Credence,^[7][8][9] Mary Lou's troubled adopted son. Described as mysterious. Reportedly plays a big role in the Wizarding World canon.
• Colin Farrell as Percival Graves,^[10] a high-ranking Auror, confidante to the President of the American magical community. Set with the task of tracking down Newt.
• Faith Wood-Blagrove as Modesty,^[11] a haunted young girl with the ability to see deep into people. Has an inner strength and stillness.
• Carmen Ejogo as Seraphina, a primary figure of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA).
• Jon Voight^[12] as Henry Shaw, Sr., a U.S. senator who holds a rally picketed by the New Salem Philanthropic Society.
• Ron Perlman^[13] as Gnarlack, a gangster that owns a speakeasy nightclub who comes across Newt.
• Fanny Carbonnel as Mrs. Goldstein, the mother of Tina and Queenie.
• Jenn Murray as Chastity^[7][14]
• Gemma Chan

Production

Development

Warner Bros. Pictures announced in September 2013 that J. K. Rowling would be making her screenwriting debut with the first of a planned series of films based upon Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, part of an expanded creative partnership with Rowling. Rowling stated that the films, which will focus on the life of Newt Scamander, will neither be a prequel nor sequel to the Harry Potter series, though will be set in the same world as the book series. The first film will be set seventy years prior to the Potter films, in 1920s New York.^[15] David Heyman, who produced all the Harry Potter films, will come back to work again with the series.^[16]

In March 2014, Warner Bros. confirmed that the story would be released as a trilogy.^[17][18] Three months later, they announced shooting would take place at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire.^[19] After Alfonso Cuarón declined involvement,^[20] Warner Bros. announced that David Yates would direct at least the first instalment of a planned trilogy.^[21] On 23 November, producer Heyman reported that Rowling had completed the script and Yates would start filming in 2015.^[22]

On 20 January 2015, Heyman confirmed that Yates and Steve Kloves had been working with Rowling on the screenplay.^[23] Kloves previously wrote the screenplays for seven of the eight Harry Potter films. Philippe Rousselot will be the director of photography.^[24]

Pre-production

In April 2015, Variety reported that Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne was the top choice for the lead role of Newt Scamander.^[25] Matt Smith and Nicholas Hoult were also considered.^[25][26] For the role of Queenie, a witch, the studio was deciding between Saoirse Ronan, Dakota Fanning, Lili Simmons, and Alison Sudol, while Kate Upton, Katherine Waterston, and Elizabeth Debicki were being considered for the role of Queenie's older sister, Tina.^[27] Greg Silverman announced Redmayne had been cast as Newt Scamander, the Wizarding World's preeminent magizoologist, in June 2015.^[1] After the studio announced they had officially cast Waterston to play the witch Tina,^[2] Ezra Miller was reported to be in talks for the role of Credence, a magically powered person whom Scamander meets.^[9]

In July 2015, Sudol was confirmed for the role of Queenie. This will be her feature film debut.^[4] After the studio met with Josh Gad and Michael Cera,^[9] comedian Dan Fogler was cast as Jacob, a non-magical person whom Newt befriends, and Miller was cast as Credence.^[8] Cera passed on the Fantastic Beasts role to voice the animated The Lego Batman Movie.^[28] In August, Colin Farrell was cast in the film to play a wizard named Graves with whom Scamander meets in New York.^[10] Following thousands of auditions in an open casting call, a ten-year-old British girl named Faith Wood-Blagrove was chosen for the part of Modesty.^[11] Later that month, Irish actress Jenn Murray signed on to star as Chastity,^[14] and Samantha Morton was cast as Mary Lou.^[6] In October 2015, The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Jon Voight, Gemma Chan, Carmen Ejogo and Ron Perlman were cast in unnamed roles.^[12][13]

Filming

Principal photography on the film commenced on 17 August 2015, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden,^{[6][7][29][30]} scenes were also shot in London.^[31] On 20 October, filming began in Liverpool at the St George's Hall, where the crew was covering the location with fake snow and placing classic cars on the road to transform the city into 1920s New York.^[32] Filming concluded on 28 January 2016.

Release

The film will be released on 18 November 2016, in 3D and the new IMAX 4K Laser system.^[1][33]

Marketing

On 10 December 2015, it was announced that an "announcement trailer" would be released five days later, on 15 December.^[34] Along with the two-minute trailer, a teaser poster was released.^[35][36]

Sequels

In October 2014, the studio announced the film as a trilogy. The second installment is set to be released on 16 November 2018, followed by the third installment on 20 November 2020.^[37][38]

References

External links

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them at the Internet Movie Database