‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ Tells You Where to Find the Trailer

As far as these “teaser for the teaser trailer” things go, the “announcement trailer” for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a welcome change of pace. Featuring absolutely zero footage and with no hint of smug indulgence, this simple but elegant tease from Warner Bros. has us more excited about the first trailer for the upcoming film than one of those typical, obnoxious teaser-for-the-teaser-for-the-trailer videos would. Good job, WB.

The studio has conjured this lovely announcement teaser, which offers the film’s logo and basic information and…that’s it. And that’s more than okay. Here’s what you need to know: the first trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will premiere worldwide on December 15, though the press release does not specify the exact time.

What the press release does offer is the first real synopsis for the Harry Potter spinoff / adjacent story:

“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.

Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, based on the fictional magizoologist who penned the Fantastic Beasts textbook studied at Hogwarts. Joining him are Katherine Waterston and Alison Sudol as bewitching witch sisters Tina and Queenie, Dan Fogler as the trouble-causing Jacob, Colin Farrell as Percival Graves, Ezra Miller as Credence, Samantha Morton as Mary Lou, Jon Voight as Henry Shaw, Ron Perlman as Gnarlack (hell yeah, whatever that is) and Carmen Ejogo as Seraphina.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling makes her screenwriting debut on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, with franchise vet David Yates directing. The film arrives on November 18, 2016.