J. Rowling - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

NEWT

(smiling)

Well, it’s been . . .

TINA

Hasn’t it!

Pause. Newt looks up, Tina’s expression is expectant.

TINA

Listen, Newt, I wanted to thank you.

NEWT

What on earth for?

TINA

Well, you know, if you hadn’t said all those nice things to Madam Picquery about me—I wouldn’t be back on the investigative team now.

NEWT

Well—I can’t think of anyone that I’d rather have investigating me.

Not precisely what he was aiming for, but too late now . . . Newt becomes slightly awkward, Tina shyly appreciative.

TINA

Well, try not to need investigating for a bit.

NEWT

I will. Quiet life for me from now on . . . back to the Ministry . . . deliver my manuscript . . .

TINA

I’ll look out for it. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Weak smiles. A pause. Tina plucks up courage.

TINA

Does Leta Lestrange like to read?

NEWT

Who?

TINA

The girl whose picture you carry—

NEWT

I don’t really know what Leta likes these days because people change.

TINA

Yes.

NEWT

(a dawning realization)

I’ve changed. I think. Maybe a little.

Tina is delighted, but doesn’t know how to express it. Instead, she’s trying not to cry. The ship’s siren sounds—most of the other passengers have now boarded.

NEWT

I’ll send you a copy of my book, if I may.

TINA

I’d like that.

Newt gazes at Tina—awkwardly affectionate. He gently reaches forward and touches her hair. Lingering for a moment, they stare into each other’s eyes.

A last look and Newt suddenly moves away, leaving Tina standing, raising a hand to touch where Newt stroked her hair.

But then he’s back.

NEWT

I’m so sorry—how would you feel if I gave you your copy in person?

A radiant smile breaks across Tina’s face.

TINA

I’d like that—very much.

Newt can’t help but grin back at her before turning and walking away.

He pauses on the gangplank, perhaps unsure of how to act, but eventually moves on without looking back.

Tina stands alone in the empty harbor. As she walks away, there’s a playful skip to her step.

WIDE SHOT OF A BUSTLING NEW YORK STREET—market stalls line the street, which heaves with busy people, horses, and carriages.

ANGLE ON A SMALL, INVITING BAKERY—crowds throng outside the pretty little shop, painted with the name: KOWALSKI. People peer with interest into the shop’s windows, and happy customers leave, their arms laden with baked goods.

CLOSE ON THE DOORBELL as it rings to signal the entrance of a new customer.

CLOSE ON THE PASTRIES AND BREADS on the counter, all molded into fanciful little shapes—we recognize the Demiguise, Niffler, and Erumpent among them.

Jacob, serving, is very happy, his shop full to bursting with customers.

FEMALE CUSTOMER

(examining the little pastries)

Where do you get your ideas from, Mr. Kowalski?

JACOB

I don’t know, I don’t know—they just come!

He hands the lady her pastries.

JACOB

Here you go—don’t forget this—enjoy.

Jacob turns and calls over one of his bakery assistants, handing him a pair of keys.

JACOB

Hey, Henry—storage, all right? Thanks, pal.

The bell tinkles again.

Jacob looks up and is thunderstruck all over again: It’s Queenie. They stare at each other—Queenie beams, radiant. Jacob, quizzical and totally enchanted, touches his neck—a flicker of memory. He smiles back.

Without the patience and wisdom of Steve Kloves and David Yates, there would be no Fantastic Beasts screenplay. They have my boundless gratitude for every note, every piece of encouragement, every improvement they suggested. Learning, in Steve’s immortal words, to “fit the woman to the dress” has been a fascinating, challenging, exasperating, exhilarating, infuriating, and ultimately rewarding experience that I wouldn’t have missed for the world. I couldn’t have done it without them.

David Heyman has been with me from the very first step of Harry Potter’s transition to the big screen, and Fantastic Beasts would have been immeasurably poorer without him. It’s been a very long journey since that first queasy lunch in Soho, and he is currently bringing to Newt all the knowledge, dedication, and expertise that he brought to Harry Potter.

There would never have been a Fantastic Beasts franchise without Kevin Tsujihara. Even though I’ve been carrying the germ of the idea for Fantastic Beasts since 2001, when I wrote the initial book for charity, it took Kevin to make me commit to bringing Newt’s story to the big screen. His support has been invaluable and he deserves the lion’s share of the credit for making this happen.

Last, but never least, my family have been enormously supportive of this project even though it has meant me working through a year’s worth of vacations. I don’t know where I’d be without you, except that it would be a dark and lonely place where I wouldn’t feel like inventing anything. So, to Neil, Jessica, David, and Kenzie: Thank you for being completely wonderful, funny, and loving, and for still believing that I should pursue Fantastic Beasts, however tricky and time-consuming they may sometimes be.

Back to scene—After focusing on one character or action within a scene, the camera returns to the larger scene

Close on—The camera films a person or object from close range

Ext.— Exterior ; an outside location