Harry Potter Spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Set for November 18, 2016

Warner Bros. has set their Harry Potter franchise spinoff, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, for release on November 18, 2016. The film, based on J.K. Rowling's world of witches and wizards and inspired by Harry Potter’s Hogwarts textbook of the same name, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will follow the adventures of the book’s fictitious author, Newt Scamander.

The first in a planned trilogy set in the wizarding world, the story will feature magical creatures and characters, some of which will be familiar to devoted Harry Potter fans. The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt's story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry's gets underway.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first to claim the November 18, 2016 date, although Walt Disney Pictures has a placeholder set for an untitled animated feature five days later.