Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a 2016 British fantasy film directed by David Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. A spin-off of the Harry Potter film series, the film was written by J. K. Rowling (in her screenwriting debut), inspired by her book of the same name. The film stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander with Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Carmen Ejogo and Colin Farrell in supporting roles.