--- description: And get details on America's Ministry of Magic title: Here's a First Look at Eddie Redmayne in the 'Harry Potter' Spinoff image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3998bede65e284de/69886f84196cf4bbc2038d28/beasts-ew-1389-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's Your First Look at Eddie Redmayne in the _Harry Potter_ Spinoff by [ashley Ross](/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 4, 2015 2:24 PM CUT  Entertainment Weekly by [ashley Ross](/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 4, 2015 2:24 PM CUT Harry Potter fans might want to take a seat for this one. The first image from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter spinoff _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ is here. The film, set for release in November 2016, is a prequel based on Rowling’s 2001 catalog of magical creatures from the wizarding world. [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/04/fantastic-beasts-and-where-find-them-ew-cover?hootPostID=d299b60014208c85fa0124d79df38050 "undefined") got the scoop from the film, which is set in 1920s New York and stars Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, a “magizoologist.” Perhaps the most enticing new piece of information is that Redmayne was shot “inside the entrance of the majestic art deco-influenced Magical Congress of the United States of America (or MACUSA), which is the American version of the Ministry of Magic that’s housed inside the Woolworth Building in the film.” It looks like there are gold birds of some sort behind Redmayne—perhaps a phoenix? We can probably safely assume it’s a fantastic beast of some sort. [**Read More: 11 Real-Life Harry Potter Destinations You Can Visit**](http://time.com/3937445/real-life-harry-potter-destinations/ "undefined") Fans already knew the wizarding world was expanding when Rowling revealed there was, in fact, [an American Hogwarts](http://time.com/3914081/jk-rowling-american-hogwarts/ "undefined"). But an American Ministry? Now that’s something to get excited about. The film released its [logo](http://time.com/4098718/jk-rowling-harry-potter-fantastic-beasts-title/ "undefined") on Tuesday, revealing a familiar design that echoes the Potter film’s logo. _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ is just the first film in a trilogy of screenplays that Rowling is writing herself. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4099501/jk-rowling-harry-potter-spinoff-fantastic-beasts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4099501/jk-rowling-harry-potter-spinoff-fantastic-beasts/"},"headline":"Here's Your First Look at Eddie Redmayne in the Harry Potter Spinoff","datePublished":"2015-11-04T14:24:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:19:51.987Z","description":"And go inside America's Ministry of Magic","url":"https://time.com/4099501/jk-rowling-harry-potter-spinoff-fantastic-beasts/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3998bede65e284de/69886f84196cf4bbc2038d28/beasts-ew-1389-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"ashley Ross","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3998bede65e284de/69886f84196cf4bbc2038d28/beasts-ew-1389-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"beasts-ew-1389-cover","caption":"","creditText":"Entertainment Weekly","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4099501/jk-rowling-harry-potter-spinoff-fantastic-beasts/","name":"Here's Your First Look at Eddie Redmayne in the Harry Potter Spinoff"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Harry Potter Could've Attended An American Wizarding School","description":"The","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ivWBNS2z/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-10T17:38:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ivWBNS2z.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4099501/jk-rowling-harry-potter-spinoff-fantastic-beasts/","duration":"PT2M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4099501/jk-rowling-harry-potter-spinoff-fantastic-beasts/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```