After weeks of rumors that Mads Mikkelsen would be taking over Johnny Depp’s Fantastic Beasts role after his firing, it’s finally been confirmed! It turns out that The Hannibal star has indeed signed with Warner Bros. to portray Gellert Grindelwald in the third installment of the Harry Potter prequel franchise and the ones to come!
This was announced at a press release on Wednesday by Warner Bros itself!
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As you may know, Johnny Depp portrayed the dark wizard in the first two Fantastic Beasts movies but his involvement in the project was ended early when he lost his lawsuit against The Sun for calling him a ‘wife beater!’
Shockingly enough, the actor was asked to resign and he agreed but Depp has been getting a lot of support from fans who have figured, at this point, that not only is he innocent, he was the domestic abuse victim in his relationship with Amber Heard.
Earlier this month, Johnny took to his IG account to tell fans in a letter: ‘I wish to let you all know I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as [Gellert] Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and I’ve respected and agreed to that request.’
Warner Bros. then confirmed this via ET, stating that ‘Johnny Depp will depart from the Fantastic Beasts franchise. We thank him for his work on the two films to date. Fantastic Beasts 3 is now in production, and the role of Gellert Grindelwald will be recast.’
Previously, Jude Law, who portrays a younger Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts, addressed the firing as well, sharing his thoughts on the matter.
‘It’s an enormous film, and there’s many layers to it. It is probably one of the biggest productions I have ever worked on. And in situations like this, you defer to the studio. That is all you can do. You have to turn up and play the part…. it is the studio and the company who make the big decisions and you just have to go along with those, because we are just a member of the team,’ Law stated.