J.K. Rowling has teamed up with Warner Bros. to write a film series inspired by Rowling’s Harry Potter series. This will be her screenwriting debut.

She will be adapting Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, an original story that was based on the textbook from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It’ll be the first in a series of films that will focus on the magical creatures and characters from the Harry Potter universe including the textbook’s author, Newt Scamander.

In a press release, Rowling gave more details about the background of the film.

Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘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. The laws and customs of the hidden magical
society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before
Harry’s gets underway.

Rowling’s partnership with Warner Bros. for the new series will expand with their video game, consumer products and digital initiatives. It also includes the expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks to Japan and California. The partnership will be managed in London. Warner Bros., as part of this new partnership, will be the worldwide television distributor for the BBC adaptation of Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy, which begins production in 2014.

As of now, there is no timeline or director for the upcoming project.