Eddie Redmayne to star in Harry Potter spin-off?

Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne is reportedly in talks to play the lead role in the Harry Potter spin-off, titled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

The actor has been a top choice among several actors to play ‘Newt’ Scamander, the lead character in the spin-off, and is said to have read the script, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Marking J.K. Rowling’s screenwriting debut, the film is inspired by Harry Potter’s Hogwarts textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which follows Scamander, the schoolbook’s fictitious author in the Potterverse. 

The movie is set 70 years before the events of the “Harry Potter”, but it is neither a sequel nor a prequel to the fantasy series. 

The film will be a trilogy with David Yates expected to direct. He directed the last four Harry Potter movies.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is planned to release in US on November 18, 2016.