Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a 2016 fantasy film directed by David Yates and written by J. K. Rowling in her debut as a screenwriter. It is the first instalment in the Fantastic Beasts film series and the ninth overall in the Wizarding World franchise, serving as a spin-off of and prequel to the Harry Potter film series. Newt Scamander's guide book of the same name—written by Rowling under the pen name in 2001 for the charity Comic Relief—inspired the film. It features an ensemble cast including Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Carmen Ejogo, Ron Perlman and Colin Farrell.

A new Wizarding World film series was first announced in September 2013, two years after the final Harry Potter film—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2—was released. The following month, it was also announced that producer David Heyman and writer Steve Kloves, who were both Potter film franchise veterans, will return in the new film series. In August 2014, Warner Bros. announced that Yates will direct at least one film of the planned trilogy, after rumors in which Alfonso Cuarón would direct, of which he refuted three months earlier. Filming took place from August 2015 to January 2016, at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, and also on location in England.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them premiered at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on 10 November 2016, and was released in theatres in the United States and in the United Kingdom on 18 November, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and emerged a commercial success, grossing $814 million worldwide, finishing its theatrical run as the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2016. It received five nominations at the 70th British Academy Film Awards, including Best British Film, and won for Best Production Design. The film was also nominated for two awards at the 89th Academy Awards and won for Best Costume Design, becoming the first Wizarding World film to win an Academy Award. Two sequels—Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)—have been released.

Plot

In 1926, British wizard and "magizoologist" Newt Scamander arrives in New York City. He observes Mary Lou Barebone, the non-magical ("No-Maj" or "Muggle") head of the New Salem Philanthropic Society, preaching that witches and wizards are real and dangerous. Attempting to recapture a Niffler that escapes from his suitcase of magical creatures, Newt bumps into No-Maj Jacob Kowalski, an aspiring baker, and unwittingly swaps suitcases. Porpentina "Tina" Goldstein, a demoted Auror of the Magical Congress of the United States (MACUSA), spots the Niffler and arrests Newt for breaking magical law. Since the suitcase Newt holds contains only Jacob's baked goods, he is released. At home, Jacob opens Newt's suitcase, inadvertently freeing several creatures into the city, and is bitten by one.

Tina and Newt follow a trail of wreckage and track down an ill Jacob and the case. To cure Jacob, Tina takes them both to her apartment and introduces them to Queenie, her Legilimens sister. Jacob and Queenie are mutually attracted, though it is illegal for wizard-kind to have any social relationship with No-Majs in America. To cure Jacob, Newt takes him inside his magically expanded suitcase, which houses various creatures, including an Obscurial of a deceased girl, a parasite that develops inside magically gifted children when their abilities are suppressed; those afflicted rarely live past the age of 10.

After Newt and Jacob recapture two of the four escaped beasts, Tina grabs and returns the suitcase to MACUSA, but all three are arrested. Officials believe the Obscurial in Newt's case is responsible for the spate of destruction, including the killing of Senator Henry Shaw Jr., when instead the destruction was caused by a second Obscurial already in the city. The Director of Magical Security, Percival Graves, accuses Newt of conspiring with the infamous dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, and decides to destroy Newt's case and its contents, and obliviate Jacob's recent memories. Newt and Tina are sentenced to death. Upon sensing this, Queenie rescues Jacob and helps Newt and Tina escape and retrieve the case before the sentences can be carried out. Later, in a speakeasy dive bar, a tip from Tina's goblin informant Gnarlak leads the four to recapture the last two escaped creatures.

Graves approaches Credence, Mary Lou's adult adopted son, offering to free him from his abusive mother in exchange for helping to find the destructive Obscurial. Credence finds a wand under his younger adopted sister Modesty's bed. Mary Lou assumes it is his, but just as Credence is to be punished, the Obscurial kills Mary Lou and her elder adopted daughter, Chastity. Assuming Modesty is the Obscurial's host, Graves dismisses Credence as a squib reneging on his promise to teach him magic in return for service. Credence reveals he is the real host, having survived to maturity due to the intensity of his magic, and openly attacks the city.

Newt finds Credence hiding in a subway tunnel and tries to persuade him to come with him, but Graves attacks him. Tina, who had tried to protect Credence from Mary Lou (which action had led to her demotion), attempts to calm the boy, while Graves tries to convince Credence to join him. As Credence returns to human form, MACUSA President Seraphina Picquery and the Aurors enter to counterattack, shattering the Obscurial. Newt is the only one who sees a single wisp of the creature fleeing the wreckage. Graves claims MACUSA's laws openly protect No-Majs at the expense of the magical community, and declares that he no longer cares to live in hiding. He confesses his plan to unleash the Obscurial and expose the magical community to No-Majs and frame Newt with his case of creatures for this. Picquery orders the Aurors to apprehend Graves, but he defeats them. Newt captures him with the help of one of his beasts and unmasks Graves as the disguised Grindelwald, who is then arrested.

Picquery fears that the destruction to the city is too extensive to keep their world secret. But Newt releases his Thunderbird to disperse an extract in the form of rain that wipes recent bad memories across the city. During this, MACUSA wizards, who are immune to the extract, repair the destruction and erase all traces of their existence. Queenie kisses Jacob goodbye as the rain erases his memories. Before returning to Britain, Newt secretly gives Jacob his occamy silver eggshells, which Jacob uses as capital to open a bakery business. His business thrives, with unique baked goods crafted to resemble Newt's magical beasts. When Queenie enters his shop, he smiles at her, a memory rekindled.