Eddie Redmayne has recorded the audiobook version of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and he’s done it in character as Newt Scamander.
The audiobook version of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is currently available for preorder through Audible UK, Audible US and Audible Australia. We’re talking, by the way, about an audiobook version of the Fantastic Beast textbook J.K. Rowling wrote for charity in 2009, not a novelization of the 2016 Fantastic Beasts movie starring Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, the magizoologist who wrote the textbook that would eventually be turned into the movie that provided enough exposure for the original textbook that it required an audiobook version.
It gets twisty.
ANYWAY, Redmayne himself recorded the audio for the audiobook, staying in character as Newt the whole time. Pottermore uploaded a video of him in action.
“Ah, the Erumpent.” He’s clearly excited. I wonder if what sound like extemporaneous exclamations of affection (“I could frankly just talk about the Niffler all day.”) will end up in the finished product.
According to Pottermore, the audiobook will contain a new forward “written” by Newt Scamander where he tells us a bit about his adventures in New York City in 1926. Sure, we saw a lot of that up on screen, but there are always more details to uncover. On top of that, the new version will contain information about six new beasts not included in the original textbook. Rowling just can’t seem to not contribute. Does anyone think some of the new beasts will appear in any of the Fantastic Beasts sequels? Maybe we’re getting a preview.
Next: Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) is attending Orlando's A Celebration of Harry Potter
The audiobook of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will be released on March 14, 2017. We can find out more then.