JK Rowling has attended the world premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore in London.
The Harry Potter author, 56, was joined on the red carpet by stars including Jude Law, Eddie Redmayne and Mads Mikkelsen.
The latest film in the magical franchise sees evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald, played by Danish actor Mikkelsen, face off against Law’s Albus Dumbledore for the future of the wizarding world.
Rowling posed outside the Royal Festival Hall in London wearing a blue gown.
Last week, she responded to Russian president Vladimir Putin after he reportedly referenced her during a speech condemning “cancel culture” in the West.
The author said on Twitter that “critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance”.
Mikkelsen recently took over the role of Grindelwald from Johnny Depp, who left the Harry Potter prequel series after losing a High Court battle against his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
On the red carpet, he said: “It started out with me asking my kids if I should say yes and that was no option – so that’s why it started.
“It’s in the story obviously. I jump into it in the middle of the process. And I had a long conversation with David (Yates, director) and with Jude because those two characters are linked, intertwined.
“So whatever he had in the mind was also where my character was going.”
Law hailed the competitive nature of his co-star Redmayne, who plays Newt Scamander.
He said: “Working in ensembles is one of the highlights of being an actor and working with an ensemble that you have already worked with, so you have a shorthand, you have a knowledge of each other both on and off camera, is just honestly one of the highlights of this job.
“We all have wonderful parts to play and we all have our own characters who we can mine. And on top of that we are in this extraordinary world. It is a lot of fun but we take it very seriously.
“We are also quite competitive. Led by Eddie who is always, ‘How can we do this better? What can we do again? Better!’
“There is a real sense of respect for the material and the world and the wizarding world community.”
Redmayne spoke of his excitement at the film finally being released.
He said: “This one has been a long time coming. We made this film in the height of lockdown.
“We were one of the first films to be filming and it was made in such secrecy, as in the title, but I am thrilled now some of those secrets are finally going to be revealed.”
Among other stars appearing in the cast are Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol, Jessica Williams and Callum Turner.
The Secrets Of Dumbledore arrives in cinemas on April 8.