Harry Potter Film Spin-Off In Hands Of Rowling

JK Rowling is making her screenwriting debut with a spin-off film based on a minor character in her Harry Potter stories.

The film, called Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, is inspired by the textbook of the same name given to pupils at Hogwarts school - but there will be no sign of the teenage wizard.

Fantasic Beasts, the first of a planned series, will feature its fictitious author, Newt Scamander, and will start in New York 70 years before Harry's story gets under way.

Writing on her Facebook page, Rowling said the idea for the film had come from Warner Bros, which was behind the eight Potter films.

She said she soon realised she could not entrust another writer with her creation

"Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it. I already knew a lot about Newt," she said.

"As hardcore Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood."

Rowling explained: "Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for 17 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."

Earlier this year, Rowling was unmasked as the author of crime novel The Cuckoo's Calling, which had been written and published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

The book, which sold about 8,500 copies before she was named as the author, has since become a worldwide best-seller.

The Casual Vacancy, her first book for adults published under her own name, is due to be filmed by the BBC as a miniseries next year. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros.

Since her seven Harry Potter novels became a global publishing phenomenon, selling an estimated 450 million copies, Rowling's every move is followed closely by the industry.

The books and the hugely successful movie franchise helped turn her into the world's first author billionaire.

However, Rowling has repeatedly said that she had no plans to write any more about the world of Harry Potter since her last book in the series, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, came out in 2007.