Based on a spin-off to the Harry Potter series in 2001 written by J.K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is being made into a film to be released on Friday, November 18th, 2016. Directing the film is David Yates, who also directed the final four Harry Potter films. High expectations shadow this film, as the production budget was $180 million.

As for the cast, Eddie Redmayne, an Oscar winning actor for his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything is cast as the main character, Newt Scamander. The movie also features Katherine Waterston as auror Tina Goldstein, Dan Fogler (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) as No-Maj Jacob Kowalski, Colin Farrell (In Bruges) as auror and Director of Magical Security Percival Graves, as well as Jon Voight (Pearl Harbor, Ray Donovan) and Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being A Wallflower) with supporting roles.

Set in the 1920s, around 60 years before Harry Potter was born, the growing dangers of dark wizardry in both Europe and America is becoming more evident, with the possibility of war between the Wizarding and No-Maj worlds inching closer to reality. Newt Scamander arrives in New York City with his leather case full of magical creatures he is rescuing and researching. Things take a turn for the worst when a No-Maj (American English for non-magic folk/muggles), Jacob Kowalski, inadvertently releases some of Newt’s creatures into the city. The movie follows the journey of Newt, aurors, and the Magic government on their quest to restore order to the on-edge city and recapture the creatures before they can cause harm.

Best of all for fans, Rowling recently announced that instead of the previous plan for a trilogy, Fantastic Beasts will be made into a five film series. Happy watching, Potterheads!