No transfiguration required: Warner Bros. is already close to recasting Johnny Deppâs role in the âFantastic Beastsâ franchise.
Days after Depp was booted from the âHarry Potterâ prequel film series following his failed libel case against a British tabloid that called him a âwife beater,â the studio has lined up another actor to take over his pivotal role.
Deadline is reporting that Danish star Mads Mikkelsen is in âearly talksâ to play the villainous dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald for the upcoming third âFantastic Beastsâ film.
Mikkelsen is reportedly director David Yatesâ top choice to replace Depp in the film, which began shooting in September after production shut down in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mikkelsen is more than up for the task. He has already proven quite capable of playing bad guys in films like âDoctor Strangeâ and âCasino Royale,â as well as in the NBC series âHannibal,â where he portrayed the titular cannibalistic serial killer to much acclaim.
Depp had reportedly only filmed one scene in the sequel before he was pulled from the shooting schedule, according to The Hollywood Reporter. For months, the actor has been entrenched in a nasty legal battle with British tabloid The Sun, which claimed in a 2018 article that Depp beat his ex-wife, actor Amber Heard.
On Friday, the actor announced his exit from âFantastic Beastsâ on Instagram after a judge ruled against him, having determined that The Sunâs âwife beaterâ headline about Deppâs relationship with Heard was âsubstantially true.â
âI wish to let you know that I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in âFantastic Beastsâ and I have respected and agreed to that request,â Depp wrote on Instagram, thanking fans for their their âsupport and loyalty.â
âThe surreal [judgment] of the court in the U.K. will not change my fight to tell the truth and I confirm that I plan to appeal,â he concluded. âMy resolve remains strong and I intend to prove that the allegations against me are false. My life and career will not be defined by this moment in time.â
Depp will, however, reportedly receive his full eight-figure salary for the film, since his contract mandated his compensation regardless of whether the film was made or his role was recast.
Plans for the five-film franchise seemingly remain unchanged, with stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Ezra Miller and Katherine Waterston reprising their roles in the untitled third film, which will largely take place in Rio de Janeiro and be set against the backdrop of the Wizarding Worldâs involvement in World War II.
But while Deppâs departure will likely quiet some fans woes about the state of the âFantastic Beastsâ universe, neither the studio nor Miller have addressed the shocking video that surfaced in April of Miller appearing to choke a young woman before pushing her to the ground.
The third âFantastic Beastsâ film is now projected to hit theaters in July 2022 after its original November 2021 release date was pushed back.
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