Colin Farrell Cast in FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Here's an unexpected piece of casting. Colin Farrell, whose career is full of dark adult dramas, gritty action films, and the occasional comedy, has been cast in Warner Bros.' Harry Potter-adjacent film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Eddie Redmayne stars as magizoologist Newt Scamander, and according to ScreenCrush, Farrell will play a wizard named Graves who crosses paths with Scamander in New York City in the 1920s. The movie isn't technically being described as a spin-off or prequel of the Potter movies, though it takes place in the same universe 70 years before Harry and his friends show up at Hogwarts.

Farrell can currently be seen on season 2 of True Detective, the finale of which airs this Sunday night. I've always thought of him as a really interesting actor, someone who seems to always carve his own path and not follow the traditional trajectory of a typical Hollywood star. Looks like he's continuing to keep himself on his toes and take on projects he wouldn't normally be associated with, and that sounds just fine to me.

J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay, and David Yates is directing. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in theaters on November 18th, 2016.