The rumor was true: Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen will replace Johnny Depp as the dark wizard Grindelwald in Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts.
The Fantastic Beasts series wasn’t doing too hot even before Johnny Depp started getting bad press for his extended split with ex-wife Amber Heard. The second movie, The Crimes of Grindelwald, which starred Depp as the title character, didn’t earn as much of the first and bombed critically, leading some to wonder if this Harry Potter prequel series had the legs to reach its planned five-film finish line.
Depp’s turbulent personal life didn’t help matters, and Warner Bros. finally asked him to resign after a UK judge ruled against him in a libel case, finding that British newspaper The Sun was within its rights to characterize him as a “wife-beater.” (Also not helping the series’ reputation: screenwriter J.K. Rowling’s newfound passion for bigotry.) Rumors soon started swirling that Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen could replace Depp as the villain of the series, and now, Warner Bros. has made it official in a press release. Mads Mikkelsen is officially our new Grindelwald.
Will this save the series? Time will tell. It’s a good casting choice. Mikkelsen has made a career out of being kind of weird and creepy and off-putting, all things you want in an evil wizard.
Fantastic Beasts 3 had already begun shooting when Depp was let go, although he didn’t film much and won’t be in the final movie. (He will get his full eight-figure salary, though, lucky him.) The rest of the cast — including Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander and Jude Law as a young Albus Dumbledore — will return.
Fantastic Beasts 3, which will probably have a much more elaborate full title this time next year, is scheduled to come out on July 15, 2022.
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