According to Variety, Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything, Les Miserables) is currently the frontrunner to headline Warner Bros.’ upcoming Harry Potter spin-off trilogy Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
The film will focus on Newt Scamander, a magizoologist and the author of the wizarding world textbook that gives the film its name. David Yates, who helmed the last four Potter films, is attached to direct, while Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling is set to make her screenwriting debut as she pens the script.
X-Men: Days of Future Past and Mad Max: Fury Road actor Nicholas Hoult is also said to be in the running for the role. The studio is also reportedly looking for four other main roles: two American boys and two American girls.
Redmayne has been searching for a big studio tentpole like this for a long time; he previously auditioned for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy and Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy, and obviously didn’t land the roles he was hoping for. Maybe he’ll have more luck in the wizarding world.
The first film in the new Fantastic Beasts series will arrive on November 18, 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pnc360pUDRI&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
Originally published April 11, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
