‘Harry Potter’ prequel: Eddie Redmayne feels pressured in the new franchise

“Harry Potter” is returning to the big screen with its latest franchise installment, “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them,” starring Eddie Redmayne.

Redmayne has admitted that he’s feeling pressured on the latest “Harry Potter” franchise during the Toronto International Film Festival.

“The stakes are high because they were so good before... You don’t want to screw it up,” Redmayne said during the premiere of “The Danish Girl.”

Redmayne has been cast to play the character of Newt Scamander, Entertainment Weekly reported. The highly anticipated movie spinoff is currently filming in New York City.

The new movie is about Newt Scamander, a wizard and magizoologist who writes about magical creatures he encounters during his travels. It was also reported that the film setting is in New York, 70 years before the “Harry Potter” films.

The English actor succeeds the “Harry Potter” original cast -- Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint -- who built their acting careers in the eight films of the series.

Fresh out of the much-reviewed film,“The Danish Girl,” Redmayne said he is glad to be chosen to star in the new installment of “Harry Potter.”

“It’s a complete privilege for me,” Redmayne said. The Oscar-winning actor added, “I love J.K. Rowling. I love the ‘Harry Potter’ films [and] books so for me this is just the most wondrous gift really.”

Redmayne will star alongside Katherine Waterston (“Boardwalk Empire”), Alison Sudol (“DIG”), Dan Fogler (“Man Up!”), Ezra Miller (“The Perks of Being A Wallflower”), Samantha Morton (“Minority Report”), Jenn Murray (“Earthbound”), Colin Farrell (“Total Recall”) and 10-year-old girl Faith Wood-Blagrove.

The director of the four “Harry Potter” films -- “Order of the Phoenix,” “Half-Blood Prince,” “Deathly Hallows” Part 1 and 2 -- David Yates, will be helming the sequel as well. The story is based on J.K. Rowling’s 2001 book of the same name.

In September 2013, J.K. Rowling announced on her Facebook page her pitched idea for the film. She partners with Warner Bros. for this new movie.

Rowling revealed that the “Fantastic Beast” is not directly connected to the life of Harry Potter but it is “an extension of the wizarding world.”

She added that the “Harry Potter” fans should expect to see the “laws and customs of the hidden magical society” that were present in the book and movie series.

“Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them” is set for release on Nov. 18, 2016.

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