<P> Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a 2016 fantasy film directed by David Yates . It is a spinoff and prequel to the Harry Potter film series, and it was produced and written by J.K. Rowling in her screenwriting debut, and inspired by her 2001 book of the same name . The film stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, with Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Carmen Ejogo, Ron Perlman, and Colin Farrell in supporting roles . It is the first installment in the Fantastic Beasts series, and ninth over all in J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World, the franchise that began with the Harry Potter films . </P> <P> Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them premiered in New York City on 10 November 2016 and was released worldwide on 18 November 2016 in 3D, IMAX 4K Laser and other large format cinemas . It received positive reviews from critics and audiences; and it grossed $814 million worldwide, making it the eighth highest - grossing film of 2016 . The film was nominated for five BAFTAs, including Best British Film, winning Best Production Design, as well as two Academy Awards, winning Best Costume Design, becoming the first film in J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World to win an Academy Award . A sequel, titled Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, is scheduled for release on 16 November 2018 . </P> <P> In 1926, British wizard and "magizoologist" Newt Scamander arrives by ship to New York en route to Arizona . He encounters Mary Lou Barebone, a non-magical woman ("No - Maj" or "Muggle") who heads the New Salem Philanthropic Society . While Newt listens to her speech about how witches and wizards are real and dangerous, a "Niffler"--a small platypus - like creature which hoards shiny objects--escapes from Newt's magically expanded suitcase and slips into a nearby bank . As Newt attempts to capture the Niffler, he meets No - Maj cannery worker and aspiring baker Jacob Kowalski, and they unwittingly swap suitcases . Demoted Auror (hunter of dark wizards) Tina Goldstein arrests Newt for the chaos caused by the Niffler and takes him to the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) headquarters . However, as Jacob's suitcase contains only baked goods, Newt is released . At Jacob's tenement apartment, several creatures escape from Newt's suitcase, one of them biting Jacob on the neck . </P> <P> After Tina and Newt find Jacob and the suitcase, Tina takes them to her apartment and introduces them to her Legilimens sister Queenie . Jacob and Queenie are mutually attracted, though American wizards are forbidden to marry or even meet No - Majs . Newt takes Jacob inside his magically expanded suitcase, where Jacob encounters a contained Obscurus, a dark, destructive parasite that develops inside magically gifted children if they suppress their magical abilities . Newt extracted it from a young girl who died, those afflicted rarely living past the age of ten . Newt persuades Jacob to help search for the missing creatures . After re-capturing two of the three escaped beasts, they re-enter the suitcase, which Tina captures and returns to MACUSA . Officials arrest them, believing one of Newt's beasts to be responsible for killing Senator Henry Shaw Jr . They decide to destroy Newt's suitcase and "obliviate" (remove) Jacob's memories of magic . Director of Magical Security Percival Graves accuses Newt of conspiring with the infamous dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald . Newt and Tina are sentenced to immediate death but Queenie and Jacob rescue them and they escape after retrieving Newt's suitcase . Thanks to the help of Goblin gangster Gnarlack, Tina's old informant, the foursome then find and re-capture the last of the creatures . </P>

When is fantastic beasts and where to find them set in time