[Photo provided to China Daily]

The forthcoming epic will feature a mythical Chinese beast named Zouwu, among other such magical creatures as Nifflers the treasure collector and the small root-shaped creature, Bowtruckle.

"It's a massive cat, which is formidably powerful and incredibly fast," Redmayne explains.

"It can travel a thousand miles in a day."

The beast is ferocious around ordinary humans but tame and gentle toward Scamander, the fictional author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them－the required textbook for first-year Hogwarts students in the Harry Potter universe.

The new movie better connects Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts through a younger version of Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.