Rumor has it that Eddie Redmayne “is the favorite” for the role of Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. According to Variety, Warner Bros. has not yet made an official offer to the Oscar-winning actor.
Filmmaker David Yates, the director behind four installments of the Harry Potter film franchise, will take the helm on the first Fantastic Beasts movie. Author J.K. Rowling will serve as both the screenwriter and a producer.
Here’s more from the article: “Set in New York roughly seven decades before Harry Potter’s saga starts, Fantastic Beasts is based on the Hogwarts textbook of the same name and follows the adventures of its author, Newt Scamander. Scamander is described as a magiczoologist, which in the Harry Potter realm is a person who studies magical creatures. Besides Scamander, there are four other main roles — two American girls and two American boys — that the studio is currently looking to cast.” (via GeekNation.com)