Colin Farrell has joined Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, it has been confirmed.

The True Detective actor will join castmates Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Katherine Waterston and Alison Sudol in the movie which will be written by Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. The picture will be directed by David Yates, who helmed the final four films in the original Harry Potter franchise.

Colin, 39, will reportedly play a wizard called Graves who meets Eddie's character Newt Scamander in New York.

Fantastic Beasts takes place 70 years before Harry Potter - played by Daniel Radcliffe on screen - is exposed to Newt's books in school. The film will focus on Newt's adventures within a secret community of witches and wizards. Newt is attempting to document the magical creatures he comes across and his exploits will hit cinemas in November 2016. However fans of the Harry Potter series shouldn't get their hopes up of seeing the boy wizard make an appearance in the prequel.

"I still get people saying, 'Are there going to be any more movies?' And now I can say, 'There actually are'," Daniel told Entertainment Tonight. "But I'm not going to be in them. And they're like, 'Oh sorry,' and I'm like, 'They're set in the past. Don't worry about it!'"

J.K. Rowling is also listed as a producer alongside David Heyman.

Colin recently admitted that he doesn't stress about his career as much as he did when first starting out.

"When I used to go, 'I don't care about any of it.' I really cared then. I just didn't know how to acknowledge it or express my caring," he told The Tavis Smiley Show. "I didn't understand it. Now, I still care, but I care less really. And it's freed me up. That's the irony, it's freed me up."