With the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opening last week at Universal Studios Hollywood, it seems only fitting that a new look at the upcoming spinoff film should follow shortly in its wake. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them won’t be hitting theaters until much later this year, but the good folks over at Warner Bros. are hoping this new trailer can help tide you over for awhile.
Using part of the Harry Potter score in this trailer is an excellent low-key reminder that although Fantastic Beasts takes place long before the events of the original franchise, it still exists in the same universe. It also helps that David Yates is returning to direct, after helming the last four installments of the series.
The film takes place in the 1920s, with Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) traveling to the United States with a suitcase full of magical creatures. The tone of this trailer is pitch perfect, and should feel instantly recognizable to Potter fans – which makes sense, since the script comes directly from author J.K. Rowling herself.
With a supporting cast that includes Dan Fogler, Colin Farrell, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, Carmen Ejogo, Jenn Murray, and Faith Wood-Blagrove, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will open on November 18.
‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident… were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.