Warner Bros. Studios announced the Oscar Award-winner will play the lead in the first Harry Potter spinoff, as the famed Magizoologist and author Newt Scamander.
After months of speculation, Greg Silverman from the production company announced the magical news.
“Eddie Redmayne has emerged as one of today’s most extraordinarily talented and acclaimed actors,” the President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production 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.”
It was revealed back in October that this new chapter from the Harry Potter world will consist of an entire trilogy set to hit cinemas in 2016, 2018 and 2020.
We are so excited for Eddie to bring to life Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
But the most exciting news is that the script will be penned by none other than the mind behind the magic, J.K Rowling, while David Yates, who directed the last four installments of the Harry Potter films, is set to direct the trilogy.
Those familiar with Harry Potter books will remember that Fantastic Beasts is a textbook used at Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry. The textbook, was written by Newt and it is about magical animals and the study, known as “magizoology,” of those creatures.
The film is set to take place 70 years before the Harry Potter series commences with the studio describing Newt as “the Wizarding World’s preeminent magizoologist, who in his travels has encountered and documented a myriad of magical creatures.”
With J.K Rowling confirming the film is set in New York, we expect we’ll see magical creatures like dragons, unicorns and yetis living in the city that never sleeps. What could be more fantastical and dare we say magical than that!
