Brief synopsis: When Newt Scamander arrived to New York in 1926 with a suitcase full of magical creatures, an accidental suitcase swap causes many of the creatures to escape into the city. Simultaneously, there's a force wreaking havoc about the city. Is it one of Newt's creatures, or is something more sinister happening that's threatening to break MACUSA's statute of secrecy revealing the wizarding community to the non-Maj population?


I was in the drama club in high school so I've certainly read my fair share of plays before, but I'm fairly certain reading Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them was my first time reading a screenplay. I've had the book for a little bit, but I finally picked it up to read it before the sequel, Crimes of Grindelwald, was released in theatres. Surprisingly, it only took me a little over two hours to read the entire screenplay - so just about the same amount of time it would have taken me to re-watch the film, so that was definitely an interesting experience.

I will say I've watched the movie a handful of times, which was probably a major factor in how I was able to read the screenplay. I already had all the actors, outfits, and voice fluctuations in my head from watching the movie. It has been a couple months since I've seen it, so I didn't expect it to feel so exact, but it truly was just like watching the movie. Reading the screenplay was very easy to read and understand, and though I can't be certain, I feel it would also be easy-peasy if you'd never actually watched the movie before, as well.

It was an interesting experience reading something so quickly, but I rather enjoyed it. Honestly, as a Hufflepuff, I feel very inclined towards Newt and his character. He's a fantastic human (pun actually not intended when I wrote that out, lol). Even reading the screenplay made me laugh out loud at all the proper points.

One of the very important pieces of the reading the screenplay alongside watching the film is realizing what some of the creatures are that you may not have otherwise. It lists out many of the creatures that you see in the film but may not know what they are; and vise versa - the movie shows you what the screenplay doesn't quite describe. It's certainly worth speeding through the screenplay, I would say!