March 8, 2016On Our Radar

‘History of Magic in North America’, New Writing by J.K. Rowling, Now Available on Pottermore.com

London, England, March 8, 2016 – ‘History of Magic in North America’, the first instalment from a collection of new original writing by J.K. Rowling entitled Magic in North America, will be published on pottermore.com over four days, beginning today through March 11. This new writing promises to enlighten readers about a previously unexplored corner of the wizarding world, taking us into the lives of North American witches and wizards; their history and their magic, and introduces audiences to a new era of the world that J.K. Rowling has created.

‘History of Magic in North America’, available exclusively on pottermore.com, sets the scene for the upcoming feature film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which marks J.K. Rowling’s screenwriting debut. The film is an all-new adventure starring Eddie Redmayne as magizoologist Newt Scamander who arrives in New York in 1926. The film will be released in the UK on November 18, 2016.

The first piece of writing from ‘History of Magic in North America’ was revealed today on pottermore.com, introducing readers to the origins of the magical community of North America; divulging the truth behind the legend of the skin walkers, wizards within the Native American communities, and wandless magic.

The second piece, which will be posted tomorrow, March 9, uncovers the dangers of being a North American witch or wizard in the seventeenth century. On Thursday, March 10, the writing examines what drove the North American wizarding community deeper underground in the eighteenth century. The final section of ‘History of Magic in North America’, which will be posted this Friday, March 11 takes us through to the Roaring `20s.

Each of the three remaining pieces of ‘History of Magic in North America’ will be posted on pottermore.com over the next three days, beginning tomorrow at 2pm GMT.

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About Pottermore

Pottermore, the digital publishing, e-commerce, entertainment and news company from J.K. Rowling, is the global digital publisher of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World. As the digital heart of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, pottermore.com is dedicated to unlocking the power of imagination. It offers news, features, and articles as well as new and previously unreleased writing by J.K. Rowling.

About J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling is the author of the bestselling Harry Potter series of seven books, published between 1997 and 2007, which have sold over 450 million copies worldwide, are distributed in more than 200 territories and translated into 79 languages, and have been turned into eight blockbuster films.

She has written three companion volumes in aid of charity: Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in aid of Comic Relief; and The Tales of Beedle the Bard in aid of her children’s charity Lumos.

In 2012, J.K. Rowling’s digital entertainment and e-commerce company Pottermore was launched, where fans can enjoy her new writing and immerse themselves deeper in the wizarding world.

Her first novel for adult readers, The Casual Vacancy, was published in September 2012 and adapted for TV by the BBC in 2015. Her crime novels, written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, were published in 2013 (The Cuckoo’s Calling), 2014 (The Silkworm) and 2015 (Career of Evil), and are to be adapted for a major new television series for BBC One, produced by Brontë Film and Television.

J.K. Rowling’s 2008 Harvard commencement speech was published in 2015 as an illustrated book, Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination, and sold in aid of her charity Lumos and university–wide financial aid at Harvard.

In addition to making her screenwriting debut with the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J.K. Rowling is currently collaborating on a stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II, which will open in London’s West End in the summer of 2016. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a new play by Jack Thorne, based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany.

About Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an all-new adventure returning us to the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling. Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) stars in the central role of wizarding world magizoologist Newt Scamander, under the direction of David Yates.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander 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.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them also stars Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, Carmen Ejogo, Jenn Murray, Faith Wood-Blagrove, and Colin Farrell.

The film marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, whose script was inspired by the Hogwarts textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, written by her character Newt Scamander.

The film reunites a number of people from the Harry Potter features, including producers David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram.

Opening November 18, 2016, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

For further information please contact:

POTTERMORE

United States

Howard Polskin: howard.polskin[@]team.pottermore.com, +1 917 751 4407

United Kingdom & International

Rebecca Salt: Rebecca[@]stonehillsalt.co.uk, +44 1620 829 800 or +44 7970 783 213

Mark Hutchinson: mark[@]markhutchinsonmanagement.co.uk, +44 7904 359 339

WARNER BROS.

United States

Paulette Osorio

(818) 954-2708

Paulette.Osorio[@]warnerbros.com