Actor Eddie Redmayne has been cast to star in the role of Newt Scamander in the upcoming Warner Brother prequel to "Harry Potter," "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

Deadline reports the official announcement came on Monday, and the film is slated to hits theatres in 3D and Imax release on Nov. 18 of 2016. The film will also mark the screenwriting debut for series author J.J. Rowling.

Redmayne won an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in the 2014 Stephen Hawking biopic, "The Theory of Everything." He will work under David Yates -- the director of the last four "Harry Potter" flicks -- and David Heyman, who has worked as a producer on all eight of the blockbuster children themed masterpieces, on the upcoming movie.

Deadline adds the movie's title stems from a textbook written by Scamander and used by Harry Potter and his pals when they attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The scene is set some 70 years before the start of other Potter films.

Even before snaring the role, the 33-year-old was already attracting plenty of buzz based on his role as "pioneering trans-gender artist Lili Elbe" in the upcoming Tom Hooper-directed film, "The Danish Girl."

"Eddie Redmayne has emerged as one of today's most extraordinarily talented and acclaimed actors," Warner Bros. exec Greg Silverman said of the British actor in a statement. "We are thrilled to welcome him into J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World, where we know he will deliver a remarkable performance as Newt Scamander, the central character in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

Us Weekly reports rumors had been swirling for months that Warner Brothers was eying Redmayne for the role and after much haggling the two were finally able to reach accord and bring the adaption to Rowling's 2001 novel to the big screen.