Los Angeles: Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne is in negotiations to play the lead in "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them", the upcoming prequel to superhit fantasy series "Harry Potter".

Redmayne, 33, will play Newt Scamander, who wrote "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them", a textbook used by Harry Potter and his friends when they attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.