Warner Bros. is hoping to snag Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne for the starring role in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the franchise set in the same world as J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter.
Redmayne would star as Newton Artemis Fido Scamander, the author of a guide to mythical beasts in the Harry Potter world. According to Variety, he hasn’t received an offer, but is Warner Bros.’ top choice.
TheWrap is also reporting that Nicholas Hoult is also being considered, since the studio is happy with his performance in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road.
Rowling is currently writing the screenplay. David Yates, who directed the last four Potter movies, is expected to direct Fantastic Beasts. The studio announced the project in September 2013.
Redmayne, who is only 33, won an Oscar for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything in February. He could be in the running again for an Oscar, as he is finishing work on Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl, which hits theaters on Nov. 27. In the film, he stars as Lili Elbe, a Danish painter who was the first man to have sex-reassignment surgery.
The first Fantastic Beasts film hits theaters on Nov. 18, 2016.
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