It has been announced today that J.K. Rowling will attend a special screening of Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them in New York City to benefit Lumos Foundation USA. Eddie Redmayne, director David Yates and additional cast members will also be present at the special screening in support of the author‘s non-profit children’s organization. Tickets for the November 12th event at Carnegie Hall will be available today, June 27th at 11amEST.

LUMOS FOUNDATION USA — author J.K. Rowling’s international non-profit children’s organization–announced today that J.K. Rowling will join Academy Award® winner Eddie Redmayne on stage at the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, November 12th, 2016 at 6:00 pm for a conversation, followed by a special advance screening of the much-anticipated Warner Bros. Pictures feature film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Starting today at 11:00 am ET, tickets to this family event (age recommendation 10 years+) range from $25-$500 and will be available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th St. and Seventh Avenue in New York City, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800, and online at http://www.carnegiehall.org/

This exclusive event to benefit Lumos Foundation USA, in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures and publisher Scholastic Inc., will follow the film’s worldwide premiere, being held earlier that week in New York, and is prior to the UK premiere in London the following week. The film will open worldwide on November 18th, 2016 and on November 19th Scholastic will publish the screenplay of the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J. K. Rowling in the United States and Canada.

The benefit screening at Carnegie Hall will be introduced by director David Yates together with members of the cast. All proceeds will go directly toward the work of Lumos to help the eight million children in orphanages around the world get back to family life.

The film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a new and original story by J.K. Rowling, marking her screenwriting debut. In addition to Eddie Redmayne, the film also stars Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Carmen Ejogo and Colin Farrell.

Ticket revenues will support the We Are Lumos Worldwide campaign in the United States, UK and across the globe. The campaign will launch in September and help raise awareness and funds to end the harmful and unnecessary practice of placing children in orphanages.

“Decades of research and evidence show us that all aspects of a child’s development suffer when they are raised in orphanages and institutions. These places can never replace what a child needs, which is love, care and attention from a dedicated parent or caregiver” said Georgette Mulheir, CEO of Lumos. “Because most children in orphanages are not orphans, they can go home if we can put the right support in place for their families.”

“We are profoundly grateful to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. and Scholastic for making this exciting film screening possible. Not only is it an opportunity to be among the first to see the film, but it will also help Lumos do the vital work needed to help the millions of vulnerable and voiceless children in orphanages get back to their families and family life, which is their right, and it is where they belong.”

“Warner Bros. is proud to support the important work done by Lumos” said Kevin Tsujihara, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros. “Jo has inspired millions with her amazing storytelling, and now Lumos is doing the same through their work on behalf of children everywhere. They are truly changing the world, one child at a time.”

“J.K. Rowling’s brilliant Harry Potter series has inspired and encouraged millions of children around the world. Now Jo and the Lumos Foundation are improving the lives of millions more children by helping return them to family life, and Scholastic is proud to support this important work,” said Dick Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO, Scholastic.

Thanks to the generosity of Warner Bros., Scholastic and Lumos’ 100% Pledge, every cent donated and raised by the event will go directly to Lumos’ Families Not Orphanages Fund. The Fund will help children in the countries where Lumos works to leave orphanages and return to a family life. No portion of any donations will go to administration, fundraising or overhead costs of the organization.

Visitors to the wearelumos.org/worldwide website are invited to sign up now to the We Are Lumos Worldwide campaign, which will launch in September. Those registering now will receive early notification of further exciting announcements.

Over the past decade, Lumos has helped thousands of children – from infants to older children – return to family life in Central and Eastern Europe and more recently in Haiti. Now, in its second decade, Lumos is expanding its work in Latin America and the Caribbean, and other regions around the world with the aim to end institutionalization of children globally by 2050.

On the heels of their “Fantastic Creators Panel” held late last night, Warner Bros have released a new character bio of New Scamander for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The 2 minute and 13 second clip contains a few new shots from the film as well as narration by J.K. Rowling and some snippets from Eddie Redmayne, who plays New in the film.

Fantastic Beasts hits theaters this November 18th!

UPDATE: The videos have since been removed, probably due to containing major plot points so we have replaced the Dan video with a transcript (thanks to SS)

Dan Fogler and Eddie Redmayne were interviewed at CinemaCon earlier this month and both discussed Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Dan gives a lot more detail about the plot of the film and how his character Jacob and Newt meet/become friends.

I play Jacob, just a regular guy back from [World War I], in Fantastic Beasts.

[J.K. Rowling] writes this story about Newt coming to New York to buy a gift, and he has this case, which is essentially a zoo full of these creatures that he’s collected over the years.

He and I literally bump into each other, our cases get switched up. I open my case, thinking that inside are gonna be pastries, and it’s actually an entire zoo of magical creatures that comes stampeding out. One of them bites me.

Newt, who’s more of a misanthropic character and closer to the animals than he is to humans, he feels responsible for me. He doesn’t want me to die because of this bite, so he takes me along and tries to heal me as we collect all these creatures in the city. Over the course of that, he and I become friends. It’s like Sherlock and Watson, the origin story.

In the video below Eddie and Colin Farrell briefly talk about the film.

Empire Magazine has released a new photo of Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander in the upcoming film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The photo shows Newt and his magical briefcase ascending some steps in New York City with a crowd behind him. The picture comes from their February issue, on stands December 31st. The issue will have interviews with cast and crew, including producer David Heyman. Empire released a short snippet of their interview with him:

“Newt is a magizoologist who’s just completed a global journey to find and document magical creatures for a book he plans on writing,” Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts producer David Heyman tells Empire. “His case is important because it contains some of the creatures he’s been researching. It may be small, but there’s a whole world within.”

A bottomless case filled with magical beasties, then? Might there be a dragon or two? Heyman isn’t saying but he did give an insight into the scale of the production, currently filming at Potter HQ, Watford’s Leavesden Studios. “On some days we’ve had several hundred extras, all done up in 1920s costumes. We are going into the magical world, but we’re bringing the magical characters into the Muggle, or ‘Nomaj’, world.”

In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal Eddie Redmayne discusses his role as Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them.

Is “Fantastic Beasts” easier to play, without all the physical changes?

I think it may just be my personality, but I always find a reason to worry. So with Stephen Hawking it was about letting down Stephen. With Lili’s story it’s about letting down the trans community. And with “Fantastic Beasts” it’s wanting to do justice to an extraordinary world that J.K. Rowling has created.

Do you have to deal with any live animals or just imaginary creatures?

There are some live animals. Dan Fogler [who plays Newt’s nonwizard friend] and I had to negotiate quite some epically-sized snakes the other day. We went, “Wait a second, can’t we CGI those in?”

Eddie’s newest film, The Danish Girl, will be released on November 27th.

The news just keeps on coming this week! EW has just released character descriptions for the main cast of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. These descriptions come with some higher resolution photos of the supporting cast, which can be seen in the gallery!

Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scramander
An eccentric globe-hopping English “magizoologist” wizard who’s far more comfortable around beasts and creatures than he is around other people. Comes to New York on a quest with his case full of magical habitats containing rare and endangered species.

Katherine Waterston as Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein
An ambitious worker at the Magical Congress of the United States of America (aka MACUSA, the U.S. version of the Ministry of Magic) who meets Newt. Tina is relegated to an office well below her abilities after she stood up for the wrong person. She longs to fight for what’s right.

Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein
Tina’s younger sister and roommate, a big-hearted free-spirit “legilimens” who can read minds.

Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski
An optimistic No-Maj (aka Muggle) factory worker/aspiring baker who gets introduced to the wizarding world when he meets Newt. Fun fact: He’s the Harry Potter franchise’s first Muggle main character.

Colin Farrell as Graves
A powerful auror and the right-hand man of the American wizarding world’s president.

Samantha Morton as Mary Lou
The narrow-minded leader of the fanatical Second Salemers, a group looking to expose and destroy wizards and witches.

Ezra Miller as Credence
Perhaps the cast’s most mysterious character. He’s Mary Lou’s troubled adopted son.