Now JK Rowling is screenwriter for movie 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

September 12, 2013 | 3 min read

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is to make her screenwriting debut. She will pen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first in a new film series inspired by Harry Potter's Hogwarts textbook of the same name, says USA Today.

JK Rowling: She put the idea to Warners

The film will feature the book's fictitious author, Newt Scamander.

Rowling explains on her Facebook page : "It all started when Warner Bros. came to me with the suggestion of turning Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them into a film. I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of Fantastic Beasts, realised by another writer was difficult.

"Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood."

She continues, "As I considered Warners' proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn't dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros."

Rowling says, "Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for 17 years, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world.

"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, 70 years before Harry's gets underway."

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