First Look: Eddie Redmayne And The Cast Of Harry Potter Spin-Off ‘Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them’

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemJ.K. Rowling just can’t give up on “Harry Potter” even though she surely never needs to pen another word for the rest of her life. The franchise yielded eight films, but she evidently couldn’t get enough and decided to adapt her 2001 creature encyclopedia “Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them” (which came after the fourth ‘Potter’ novel) as a film spin-off, marking her first screenplay (she also wrote another ‘Potter’ short story recently). She doesn’t need the money, so you can bet the impetus for it was Warner Bros. —looking to extend the franchise which grossed a combined $7.7 billion worldwide— asking Rowling if she’d care to turn that encyclopedia into a narrative feature.

READ MORE: Review: ‘Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2’ Is An Utterly Magical Conclusion To the Franchise  

“Like many people, I read those books, I watched those films, and became completely intoxicated by J.K. Rowling’s world,” Eddie Redmayne, the star of ‘Fantastic Beasts’ told EW a few weeks back. “The idea of getting to tiptoe into it felt truly exciting. I hope it’s going to be quite a ride.” Redmayne stars as “magizoologist” Newt Scamander in the movie, which is set in New York in 1926. A new logo was unveiled yesterday (see below) and today, EW has unveiled a brace of new images.

Directed by David Yates, who helmed the last four ‘Harry Potter’ feature films, "Fantastic Beasts" centers on the aforementioned magizoologist (creature expert?) and his voyage to New York to find and document magical creatures. The movie also stars Katherine Waterston (“Inherent Vice”) as Tina; Alison Sudol (“Dig,” “Transparent”) as Tina’s sister, Queenie; Tony Award winner Dan Fogler (“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”) as Jacob; Ezra Miller (“Trainwreck”) as Credence; two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (“In America,” “Sweet and Lowdown”) as Mary Lou; Jenn Murray (“Brooklyn”) as Chastity; young newcomer Faith Wood-Blagrove as Modesty; and Colin Farrell (“True Detective”) as Graves.

Warner Bros. has slated “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” for worldwide release in 3D and IMAX on November 18, 2016. 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemFantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemFantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemFantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemFantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemFantastic Beasts And Where To Find ThemFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them