Oscar winner Eddie Redmaybe has been tapped to portray Newt Scamander, the lead in J.K. Rowling's new movie trilogy, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a spinoff from the Harry Potter series.

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In the film, fictional "author" Newt Scamander travels around the world, discovering magical creatures and documenting them in a textbook that is later studied by Harry and his wizard-in-training classmates at Hogwarts.

Neither a prequel nor sequel to the Potter books, Beasts is set in the same world—though 70 years earlier, in 1920s New York.

[caption id="attachment_204366" align="aligncenter" width="610"] David Yates[/caption]

David Yates, who directed the final four Potter films, will direct Fantastic Beasts, and Rowling herself will write the screenplay.

Yates called Redmayne "a fearless actor, brimming with invention, wit, and humanity... [I] couldn't be more excited about the prospect of working with him as we start this new adventure in J.K. Rowling's wonderful world."

We're more excited, Mr. Yates!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hits theaters November 18, 2016.

h/t: CNN