Warner Brothers has announced the cinema release date for the first spin-off movie based on JK Rowling's Harry Potter universe.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them is due to hit the big screen on 18 November, 2016 - giving the studio around 18 months to make the movie.

The movie is based on a 54-page book originally published in 2001, which was supposedly a textbook used by Harry and co during their time at Hogwarts.

It is expected to be based on the adventures of "maxizoologist" Newton Scamander and be set in New York City around 70 years before the Potter stories.

Veteran Potter producer David Heyman will produce the new film, which will reportedly form part of a new trilogy.