Harry Potter author JK Rowling is to make her screenwriting debut on a spin-off film based on a minor character in her stories about the boy wizard.

《哈利·波特》作者J.K.罗琳将首次尝试创作电影剧本，这部电影衍生剧的主人公是《哈利波特》系列故事中的一位次要角色。

The film, called Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, is inspired by the textbook of the same name given to pupils at Hogwarts school and will feature its fictitious author, Newt Scamander.

电影片名为《神奇动物在哪里》，出自霍格沃茨魔法学校学生的课本名称。影片讲述了课本的虚构作者纽特·斯卡曼的故事。

Miss Rowling said on her Facebook page: "It all started when Warner Bros came to me with the suggestion of turning Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them into a film."

罗琳小姐在其脸书主页上写道：“华纳兄弟联系到我，并提出要把《神奇动物在哪里》改编成电影。”

"I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of Fantastic Beasts, realised by another writer was difficult. Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt."

“我觉得这是个很有趣的想法，纽特·斯卡曼是《神奇动物在哪里》的虚构作者，但要通过另一个作者的视角把他呈现出来并不是一件容易事。我在自己虚构的世界中生活了很长时间，我很想保护好这个世界，同时也对纽特十分熟悉。”

"As I considered the proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn’t dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros."

“就在考虑这个提议的过程中，我头脑中渐渐形成了一个挥之不去的故事原型。这就是我要亲自执笔而不是把电影想法丢给华纳兄弟的原因。”

"Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world. Newt’s story will start in New York, 70 years before Harry’s gets under way."

“《神奇动物在哪里》不是《哈利波特》系列的前传或后续，而是另一部魔法世界的衍生作品。纽特的故事设定在纽约，要比哈利波特早70年。”

The commercial success of the Harry Potter books and films, which made stars of Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, guarantees the new film will be a hit. The last film in the series, Harry Potter And the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, took £23million in the UK and Ireland in its opening weekend alone.

《哈利波特》系列小说和电影在商业上取得巨大成功，还成就了丹尼尔·雷德克里弗和艾玛·沃特森等电影明星，这些都为该部衍生电影热卖打下了坚实基础。最后一部系列电影《哈利波特与死亡圣器2》上映仅一周，就在英国和爱尔兰取得2300万英镑的票房收入。