Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
About the Film
In 1926 New York, the eccentric British “magizoologist” Newt Scamander arrives carrying a battered suitcase that is secretly home to a menagerie of magical creatures. When several of the beasts escape into the city, Newt — aided by the No-Maj baker Jacob and the witch sisters Tina and Queenie — races to recapture them before they expose the hidden wizarding world.
Meanwhile a darker threat gathers: a destructive force is tearing through the city, and the American wizarding authorities suspect the missing dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is behind the growing unrest. In the film’s climactic revelation, the sinister investigator who has been hunting Newt is unmasked as Grindelwald himself in disguise — the first appearance of the character in the new Wizarding World series.
Plot synopsis by johnny-depp.org.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp makes a startling cameo at the very end of the film, when the menacing MACUSA official Percival Graves is revealed to be the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in disguise — his true face unmasked in the final scene. The brief appearance set up Depp’s larger starring role as Grindelwald in the sequel, The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Cast & Crew
Cast
Newt ScamanderEddie Redmayne
Tina GoldsteinKatherine Waterston
Jacob KowalskiDan Fogler
Queenie GoldsteinAlison Sudol
Percival GravesColin Farrell
Gellert GrindelwaldJohnny Depp
Credence BareboneEzra Miller
Crew
DirectorDavid Yates
ScreenplayJ.K. Rowling
MusicJames Newton Howard
CinematographyPhilippe Rousselot
ProducersDavid Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves, Lionel Wigram
StudioWarner Bros. Pictures / Heyday Films
Filming Locations
- Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, England (1926 New York was built here)
- Liverpool, England (doubling for period New York)
More about this film
Trivia
- Johnny Depp’s Grindelwald appears only in the film’s final twist, revealed beneath Colin Farrell’s Graves.
- It was J.K. Rowling’s first screenplay, expanding the Harry Potter universe.
- The film won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.
- It launched the five-part Fantastic Beasts / Wizarding World spin-off series.
Awards
- 2017 Academy Award — Best Costume Design (Colleen Atwood) Won
- 2017 Academy Award — Best Production Design, nominated
