At long last, Johnny Depp is breaking his silence on his feelings about being fired from the Fantastic Beasts films, and his words are startling!
The Fantastic Beasts franchise never worked out the way Warner Bros wanted. The studio figured they had a winner by in this Harry Potter prequel series. They were so sure it would be a hit that they agreed to a five-picture deal before the first film was released.
Set in the 1920s, the saga focused on America as Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) traveled to New York hunting exotic animals from the Wizarding World. He’s soon involved in various misadventures that involve Gellert Grindelwald, an infamous dark wizard, basically the Voldemort of his time.
The villain of the film was apparently Auror Percival Graves (Colin Ferrell). However, in a big twist, it turned out he was Grindelwald in disguise, played by Johnny Depp. That was a major coup for the producers as Depp seemed to fit the part of a twisted, dark wizard leading his own cult.
Depp reprised the role for the 2018 sequel The Crimes of Grindelwald, where the character was ready to lead a wizarding war. However, in 2020, Depp resigned the role, which many believed was really him being fired by Warner Bros due to the bad publicity surrounding his now infamous libel trial with his ex-wife Amber Heard, which involved allegations of abuse.
Thus, Mads Mikkelsen took over the part for 2022’s The Secrets of Dumbledore. The poor box office reception to that movie has pretty much ended the franchise, with Depp moving on. Now, he's finally opening up about his departure.
What Johnny Depp said about being fired as Grindelwald
Speaking to The Telegraph, Depp was asked how it felt to learn he’d been let go as Grindelwald. “Listen, they’ve said all kinds of things out there in the world about me, and it doesn’t bother me. I’m not running for office. It literally stopped in a millisecond, like, while I was doing the movie," he said.
"They said we’d like you to resign. But what was really in my head was they wanted me to retire. “F*** you. There’s far too many of me to kill. If you think you can hurt me more than I’ve already been hurt you’re gravely mistaken."
Some argue Depp came out the better of the deal, given the third Fantastic Beasts film was the lowest-grossing of the franchise. You could blame the diminished returns on Depp's absence or argue that people became less interested over time as it became clear that the Fantastic Beasts movies weren't as compelling as the original Harry Potter films.
Either way, Depp is still trying to make his comeback. His last live-action role was in the 2023 French film Jeanne du Barry. He still claims to have projects in the works despite some bad press surrounding his relationship with Heard and fallout from the trial. It seems a safe bet that even if an attempt to continue Fantastic Beasts happens, Depp is likely not going to be involved with it.
The Fantastic Beasts movies are streaming on HBO Max.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.