We Ranked Every Fantastic Beasts Movie by Its Score—Which One Casts the Strongest Spell?

Three movies, one composer, and a big shadow from John Williams to step out of. The Fantastic Beasts trilogy pushed the Wizarding World far beyond Hogwarts, and James Newton Howard had to make that expansion sound like it belonged. With Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, and Johnny Depp (later swapped out for Mads Mikkelsen) carrying the story on screen, the score had to pull its weight. Here is how the music stacks up, from solid to spellbinding, with a quick refresher on the films first.

Quick refresher on the movies

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) — Release date: November 10, 2016; Director: David Yates; IMDb: 7.2/10; Rotten Tomatoes: 74%; Worldwide box office: $816.03 million
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) — Release date: November 16, 2018; Director: David Yates; IMDb: 6.5/10; Rotten Tomatoes: 36%; Worldwide box office: $655.75 million
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) — Release date: April 15, 2022; Director: David Yates; IMDb: 6.2/10; Rotten Tomatoes: 46%; Worldwide box office: $407.15 million

Ranking the Fantastic Beasts scores

3) Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

This one lands in third, but it is not phoning it in. Howard delivers the longest score of the bunch at 39 tracks, recorded at Abbey Road in late 2021, and you can feel the film pivoting into heavier territory. Instead of big wizarding fireworks, the music leans into hushed tension and moral gray areas: politics, loyalty, secrets. Tracks like "We Can Free Each Other," "Same Blood," and "The Room We Require" underline that restrained approach.

There is a curveball here too: "Heaven," a bonus track that was actually eligible for Best Original Song at the Oscars, gives the album an unexpectedly intimate finish. The tradeoff is that the score does not hand you many new earworms. Compared to the first film, which threads some classic Potter DNA into its main theme, this one mostly reshapes familiar ideas rather than planting fresh ones.

2) Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

The second film is where the brightness drops and the storm clouds roll in, and the score wastes no time matching that mood. Howard pushes into darker colors and thicker textures; the tension is baked in from the start. You can hear the Wizarding World getting messier, heavier, and a little more dangerous.

Standouts: "Leta's Theme" and "Dumbledore" carry a lot of emotional weight without overplaying their hand, while "Spread the Word" simmers with dread. It is not a casual listen — dense, occasionally overwhelming — but it is committed. Whatever you think of the movie itself, the music knows exactly what it wants to be.

1) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

Easy winner. The first film had to introduce a new corner of this world and make it feel both fresh and familiar, and the score does that from the jump. It is playful, curious, and constantly in motion — and when the main theme hits, you get that clever thread back to the classic Potter sound without leaning on nostalgia too hard.

"Main Titles," "Newt Says Goodbye to Tina," and "The Demiguise and the Occamy" are the kind of cues that stick with you. The creature motifs feel distinct and characterful, and the themes actually lodge in your brain. You remember them. You hum them. That clarity — and that sense of discovery — is why the first outing takes the crown.

Which score is your favorite, and which tracks do you keep replaying?

All three Fantastic Beasts films are streaming on Max.