After escaping custody in a dramatic aerial battle, the powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald begins gathering followers to his cause: raising pure-blood wizards to rule over all non-magical beings. In an effort to thwart Grindelwald's plans, Albus Dumbledore enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world centered in Paris.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States United Kingdom |
Premiere date |
November 16, 2018 |
Running time |
134 minutes |
Genre |
Fantasy Adventure Family |
Budget |
$200,000,000 |
Box Office |
$654,855,901 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
David Yates |
Produced by |
David Heyman J.K. Rowling Steve Kloves Lionel Wigram |
Written by |
J.K. Rowling |
Music by |
James Newton Howard |
Cinematography |
Philippe Rousselot |
Edited by |
Mark Day |
Production Co. |
Heyday Films Warner Bros. Pictures |
Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #02 in Fantastic Beasts Collection
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The Plot
The Escape from New York
In 1927, the formidable Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is held in high-security captivity by the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA). Following his capture six months prior, the time comes for his transfer back to London to answer for his crimes in Europe. Under the cover of a stormy night, the transfer operation begins, supervised by heavy security. However, the operation is sabotaged from within; Abernathy, a former MACUSA employee and a concealed follower of the Dark wizard, has orchestrated a daring rescue.
In the chaos of the transfer, Grindelwald is freed. With ruthless efficiency, he dispatches his guards in mid-air and seizes control of the carriage transporting him. Having successfully escaped custody, Grindelwald flees into the night, leaving MACUSA humiliated and the wizarding world on high alert.
The Ministry's Ultimatum and Dumbledore's Request
Three months after the incident in New York, Newt Scamander finds himself at the British Ministry of Magic in London. He is there to appeal his travel ban, which was revoked following his chaotic visit to New York City. While waiting, he encounters Leta Lestrange, an old friend from his years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who is now engaged to his older brother, the war hero Theseus Scamander.
During the hearing, the Ministry offers Newt a compromise: his travel rights will be restored if he agrees to join the Auror department and work alongside Theseus to hunt down the Obscurial, Credence Barebone. Intelligence suggests Credence has resurfaced in Paris and is believed to be the last survivor of a prominent pure-blood wizarding line. Unwilling to choose sides or become an Auror, Newt rejects the offer. Consequently, the Ministry dispatches the ruthless bounty hunter Grimmson to find the boy instead. Shortly after leaving the Ministry, Newt is secretly summoned by Albus Dumbledore. The Hogwarts professor also urges Newt to travel to Paris to find Credence, believing Newt is the only one who can save the boy rather than kill him.
A House Divided
Newt returns to his London home to find unexpected guests: his American friends Queenie Goldstein and the No-Maj Jacob Kowalski. They explain that they have followed Queenie's sister, Tina, to Europe. However, the reunion quickly turns tense. Newt realizes that Jacob seems unusually passive and discovers that Queenie has placed him under a love spell to bypass his reluctance to marry her—a union strictly forbidden by American wizarding law.
Newt lifts the enchantment, returning Jacob to his senses. This leads to a heated argument between the couple regarding the dangers of their relationship under the International Statute of Secrecy. Heartbroken and angered by Jacob's refusal to marry her out of fear for her safety, Queenie storms out to find Tina in Paris alone. Realizing the danger both sisters are in, Newt and Jacob pack their bags and depart for France to follow them.
Chaos at the Circus Arcanus
In Paris, Tina Goldstein is already on the hunt for Credence, tracking him to the Circus Arcanus, a traveling freak show exhibiting magical curiosities. Credence is there, working in servitude alongside a young woman named Nagini, a Maledictus who carries a blood curse that will eventually transform her permanently into a snake. During a performance, Credence and Nagini orchestrate an escape, releasing several magical beasts that cause panic and destruction, allowing them to slip away into the city.
The pair is on a quest to discover Credence's true identity. Their search leads them to the home of Irma Dugard, the nurse who signed Credence's adoption papers years ago. Just as Credence begins to question her about his birth mother, Grimmson, the bounty hunter sent by the British Ministry, arrives. Acting on secret orders from Grindelwald, Grimmson kills the nurse before she can speak. Enraged and cornered, Credence unleashes his Obscurus force, driving Grimmson away, but the answers to his heritage remain just out of reach.
The French Connection and Yusuf's Vow
While tracking Credence, Tina encounters Yusuf Kama, a mysterious French-African wizard who is also hunting the boy. Meanwhile, Newt and Jacob arrive in Paris and manage to track Yusuf, hoping he will lead them to Tina. He does, but the reunion is short-lived as Yusuf imprisons all three of them. He reveals that he has sworn an Unbreakable Vow to kill Credence, whom he believes to be his half-brother and a member of the Lestrange family.
Meanwhile, the situation in Paris grows more volatile. Newt and Tina manage to escape Yusuf’s captivity when he succumbs to a parasite in his eye. Realizing they need concrete proof of Credence's identity to save him from Yusuf and the Ministry, Newt and Tina infiltrate the French Ministry of Magic to steal the ancestral records.
Revelations in the Lestrange Tomb
Their infiltration of the French Ministry is compromised when Leta and Theseus arrive, searching for the same information. The pursuit leads all parties—Newt, Tina, Jacob, Yusuf, Leta, and Theseus—to the Lestrange family tomb at Père Lachaise Cemetery. Credence and Nagini are already there, searching for the truth.
In the tomb, the tangled history of the families is unraveled. Yusuf confronts the group, believing Credence to be Corvus Lestrange. However, Leta reveals a devastating secret from her past. During a voyage to America as a child, she switched her infant brother, Corvus, with another baby on the ship to get a moment of respite from his crying. The ship sank, and the lifeboat carrying the true Corvus Lestrange capsized, drowning him. Therefore, Credence cannot be a Lestrange. The trail of clues leading to the tomb was fabricated by Grindelwald to lure Credence to this specific location.
The Rally at Père Lachaise
The gathering in the tomb is interrupted as a door opens to reveal a massive underground amphitheater where Grindelwald is holding a rally for his followers. Queenie, who has been seduced by Grindelwald's vision of a world where wizards can love freely, is in attendance. Jacob finds her, but she refuses to leave.
Grindelwald takes the stage, preaching a seductive message of "freedom" rather than domination. He argues that wizards should not be forced to hide from Muggles. To prove his point, he conjures images from the future, showing the horrors of the impending World War II and the atomic bomb, framing wizarding rule as the only way to prevent humanity's self-destruction. As the rhetoric heats up, Aurors led by Theseus surround the rally. Grindelwald deftly turns the situation against them, portraying the Aurors as violent oppressors, and instructs his followers to Disapparate and spread his message across Europe.
The Blue Fire and the Sacrifice
With his followers gone, Grindelwald casts a circle of blue fire that acts as a test of loyalty; it destroys any enemies who attempt to cross it while allowing true believers to pass unharmed. He invites the heroes to join him. To the shock of her friends, Queenie crosses the fire to join Grindelwald, desperate for the freedom to marry Jacob. Credence, seeking the only man who promises to reveal his true identity, also crosses over, despite Nagini's pleas.
As the fire expands, threatening to consume the Aurors, Leta Lestrange steps forward. She appears to swear allegiance to Grindelwald but, in a final act of bravery, casts a spell to destroy his skull-hookah, distracting him. She sacrifices herself to the flames, buying Newt, Tina, Jacob, Yusuf, Nagini, and Theseus enough time to escape. As Grindelwald vanishes, the blue fire rages out of control, manifesting as dragon-like entities threatening to incinerate Paris. The remaining heroes unite with the ancient alchemist Nicolas Flamel, plunging their wands into the earth to cast a counter-spell that contains the fire and saves the city.
The Blood Pact and the Brother
In the aftermath, Newt travels to Hogwarts to meet with Dumbledore. He presents a vial stolen from Grindelwald by his Niffler during the rally. Newt surmises that the vial contains a blood pact made between Dumbledore and Grindelwald years ago, swearing that they could never fight each other. This revelation explains why Dumbledore has been unable to confront the Dark wizard himself. Dumbledore accepts the vial, offering hope that the pact can be destroyed.
Meanwhile, at his base in Nurmengard Castle, Austria, Grindelwald speaks to Credence. He presents the boy with a wand and reveals the identity Credence has sought for so long. Grindelwald tells him that he is Aurelius Dumbledore. To prove this connection, he points to a baby bird Credence had been caring for, which suddenly bursts into flame and is reborn as a phoenix—a creature traditionally associated with the Dumbledore family in times of need. Fully embracing his power, Credence tests his new wand, blasting a mountainside apart with terrifying force.
