Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, released in 2018, is the second film in the Fantastic Beasts series and the tenth overall in the Wizarding World franchise. Directed by David Yates with a script by J. K. Rowling, the story takes place in 1927 and centers on Newt Scamander and Albus Dumbledore as they work to stop the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald amid growing tensions in the magical community.

The ensemble cast features Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, Claudia Kim, William Nadylam, Kevin Guthrie, Jude Law, and Johnny Depp. Plans for a second Fantastic Beasts film were announced in October 2014, and Rowling confirmed she had finished the script by July 2016. Depp was cast in November 2016, sparking controversy due to domestic violence allegations against him. Jude Law joined the cast in April 2017. Principal photography began in July 2017 at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England, with additional filming in London, Switzerland, and Paris, wrapping up in December 2017.

The film premiered in Paris on 8 November 2018 and was released in the UK and US on 16 November 2018 by Warner Bros. Pictures. It earned $654.9 million worldwide, making it the tenth highest-grossing film of 2018. Upon release, it became the lowest-grossing installment in the Wizarding World franchise, a record it held until its sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, came out in 2022. Critics gave it generally mixed reviews, noting an overcrowded cast and an overreliance on setup for future films. At the 72nd British Academy Film Awards, it received nominations for Best Production Design and Best Special Visual Effects. The sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, was released in April 2022.

The plot begins in 1927 as the Magical Congress of the United States (MACUSA) transfers Grindelwald to Europe for trial, but he escapes. Three months later in London, Newt Scamander asks the Ministry of Magic to lift his international travel ban. He encounters his former Hogwarts classmate Leta Lestrange, now engaged to his brother Theseus. The Ministry agrees to Newt’s request if he helps Theseus find Credence Barebone in Paris, but Newt refuses after learning he must work with bounty hunter Gunnar Grimmson. Albus Dumbledore, who admits he indirectly sent Newt to New York, also asks Newt to find Credence, believing he is Leta’s long-lost half-brother, Corvus Lestrange V.

Newt is visited by his American friends Queenie Goldstein and Jacob Kowalski, a non-magical person who has regained his erased memories. Newt learns that Tina Goldstein, Queenie’s sister, mistakenly thought Newt and Leta were engaged and started seeing someone else. Queenie had enchanted Jacob to come to London to bypass the marriage ban between wizards and non-magical people, but after Newt lifts the spell, Jacob refuses to marry her, fearing the consequences. Upset, Queenie leaves to find Tina, who is searching for Credence in Paris. Newt and Jacob follow via a Portkey, bypassing Newt’s travel ban.

In Paris, Credence escapes the Circus Arcanus with captive performer Nagini, a woman cursed to permanently transform into a snake. They search for Credence’s birth mother and locate half-elf servant Irma Dugard, who brought him to America for adoption. Grimmson, secretly a Grindelwald follower, kills Irma before she can reveal who sent her. Tina meets Yusuf Kama, who is also hunting Credence. Newt and Jacob trail Yusuf to Tina, finding her held hostage. Yusuf imprisons them all, explaining he made an Unbreakable Vow to kill Corvus Lestrange V, whom he believes is Credence. Meanwhile, a distraught Queenie is brought to Grindelwald; he allows her to leave but manipulates her into joining him by exploiting her desire to marry Jacob.

Newt and Tina escape Yusuf and infiltrate the French Ministry of Magic to find documents about Credence’s identity, but Leta and Theseus discover them. Newt and Tina reconcile after he explains he was never engaged to Leta. They go to the Lestrange family tomb, where Yusuf confronts Credence and Nagini. Yusuf reveals he is fulfilling his father Mustafa’s request to avenge his mother Laurena: she was kidnapped by Corvus Lestrange IV using the Imperius Curse and died giving birth to Leta, Yusuf’s half-sister. Corvus IV remarried and had Corvus V, whom he sent to America for adoption to protect him from Yusuf’s revenge. Leta confesses she accidentally caused Corvus V’s death: on the voyage to America, unable to bear his crying, she switched him with another infant, Credence; the ship sank, and Corvus drowned.

The group enters a rally of Grindelwald’s followers. Jacob searches for Queenie, who is among the attendees. Grindelwald shows a vision of a future global war and argues against laws that prevent wizards from stopping such a tragedy. As Theseus and Aurors surround the rally, Grindelwald urges his followers to spread his message across Europe. He conjures a ring of blue fire that kills the retreating Aurors, allowing only his most loyal followers to cross safely. Queenie and Credence cross the fire despite Jacob and Nagini’s protests, while Leta sacrifices herself so others can escape. Grindelwald and his followers depart, and the remaining wizards, along with immortal alchemist Nicolas Flamel, extinguish the fire. Newt joins the fight against Grindelwald.