Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

74% Tomatometer 346 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings

The year is 1926, and Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt's fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

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Critics Consensus

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them draws on Harry Potter's rich mythology to deliver a spinoff that dazzles with franchise-building magic all its own.

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Critics Reviews

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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Karen Han CutPrintFilm Fantastic Beasts is a charm, excelling when it's allowed to be its own creature and falling short only when it's forced to pay its franchise dues. Rated: 7/10 Dec 8, 2017 Full Review Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Kristen Lopez Culturess Much of the film's rapid-fire entertainment value and slick filmmaking style do a lot towards covering up the weak narrative excuses. Nov 20, 2017 Full Review Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Alison Herman The Ringer Rowling imbues Fantastic Beasts from start to finish with a sense of discovery. Aug 11, 2017 Full Review Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Rowling throws her audience into the fray without developing personalities we grow to love. As a result, Fantastic Beasts feels underwhelming, if diverting for the duration. Rated: 2/4 Apr 9, 2022 Full Review Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Rotten Tomatoes (5) David Gonzalez The Cinematic Reel Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is an unexpected return to Rowlings wizarding world but with anything, the unexpected surprises are sometimes the best. Rated: 3/4 Feb 14, 2022 Full Review Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Rotten Tomatoes (6) David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a predominantly worthless endeavor that seems to serve no purpose other than to lay the groundwork for future installments. Rated: 1.5/4 Jan 18, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Boots McGee a fanciful journey, full of imaginative creature design and world building. THIS movie is great. commenting from 2024....they should have stopped here. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/24/24 Full Review Nick R A solid enough spinoff that WB will regret later on with the promise of 5 movies in this saga. But it's still a fun time. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/10/24 Full Review naim c Great story Great actors Great visuals Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/07/24 Full Review Lai E Loved this movie! It was very adorable and charming. Newt is a very special and unique character. Hoping for the creation of a 4th movie. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/04/24 Full Review Chiena A Exceptional costume and production design. There is a reason this won an Oscar in that category. While world-building for Wizarding NYC feels fleshed out and lived in, the same cannot be said for the actual screenplay. It is painfully clear JK Rowling is a novelist, and not a screenwriter, from the clunky dialogue and poor pacing. Eddie Redmayne is charming as the introverted and awkward Newt Scamander, but the true standouts are Dan Fogler as the muggle-baker Jacob Kowalski, and Colin Farrell as the corrupt auror Percival Graves. Honestly, the twist with at the end with Farrell’s character is what truly doomed this film as a franchise starter. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/28/24 Full Review Maria Lina N The storytelling is pretty boring, the creatures and the movie overall feels like random thoughts of bad writers Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/17/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

David Yates Director Eddie Redmayne Newt Katherine Waterston Tina Dan Fogler Jacob Kowalski Alison Sudol Queenie Ezra Miller Credence Barebone
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Blu-Ray Trailer Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Blu-Ray Trailer 1:57 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Trailer 2 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Trailer 2 2:42 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Comic-Con Trailer Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Comic-Con Trailer 2:26 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Teaser Trailer 1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Teaser Trailer 1 2:08 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Announcement Trailer Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Announcement Trailer 1:45 View more videos

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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

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Synopsis The year is 1926, and Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt's fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

Director
David Yates

Producer
David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves, Lionel Wigram

Screenwriter
J.K. Rowling

Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures

Production Co
Heyday Films, Nvizible, Warner Bros. Pictures

Rating
PG-13 (Some Fantasy/Action Violence)

Genre
Fantasy, Adventure

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 18, 2016, Wide

Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 8, 2017

Box Office (Gross USA)
$234.0M

Runtime
2h 7m

Sound Mix
Dolby Digital, Datasat, Dolby Atmos

Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)
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