Eddie Redmayne To Star In Harry Potter Spin-Off Movie "Fantastic Beasts" 2015
 

Eddie Redmayne To Star In Harry Potter Spin-Off Movie "Fantastic Beasts" 2015
Eddie Redmayne To Star In Harry Potter Spin-Off Movie "Fantastic Beasts" 2015
The Oscar-winning actor will headline in the Potter prequel franchise as magizoologist Newt Scamander.



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Scholastic

Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) has been officially cast as the lead character Newt Scamander in the Harry Potter Spin-Off Movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Warner Bros. an**unced on Monday.

Potter author J.K. Rowling is making her screenwriting debut with the new franchise, which she adapted from her slim book of the same name that she published in 2001, with the bulk of the proceeds going to charity. The Hogwarts textbook is purportedly written by Scamander, a "magizoologist," and covers dozens of magical creatures in Rowling's wizarding world.

Within Rowling's fictional universe, Scamander published the book in 1927; the film is expected to serve as a prequel of sorts to the Harry Potter films, well before Potter's character would have been alive.

Rowling is the only Potter veteran returning to her fictional world, either. David Yates, who directed the final four Harry Potter films, will direct Fantastic Beasts, and Potter producer David Heyman, screenwriter Steve Kloves, and executive producer Lionel Wigram are all producing Fantastic Beasts with Rowling.

The film is scheduled to open on **v. 18, 2016.



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