Mads Mikkelsen Confirmed To Replace Johnny Depp In Fantastic Beasts 3

Warner Bros. recently confirmed that Mads Mikkelsen will replace Johnny Depp in the Fantastic Beasts series, set in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, after rumors emerged about the actor taking on the role of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald.

Mikkelsen (Hannibal, Casino Royale and Doctor Strange) will appear alongside Jude Law as a young Albus Dumbledore, as well as Eddie Redmayne as magizoologist Newt Scamander, Alison Sudol and Katherine Waterston as sisters Queenie and Tina Goldstein, and Dan Fogler as ‘No-Maj’, Jacob Kowalski. The third movie has also confirmed the return of Callum Turner, Ezra Miller, William Nadylam, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Jessica Williams and Victoria Yeates.

The confirmation comes after Johnny Depp resigned from his role as the film series’ central role of Gellert Grindelwald, after Warner Bros. asked him to exit the movie following his loss of a libel case against U.K. tabloid The Sun. The actor has also been ordered to pay The Sun almost £630,000 for its legal fees in the case. Depp took the tabloid to court over an article calling Depp a “wife beater”, following accusations of domestic abuse from ex-wife Amber Heard. The court concluded that Depp assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard, thus denying his case.

The film will be directed by David Yates (who directed the first two movies, as well as the latter Harry Potter movies), and will be produced by David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves, Lionel Wigram and Tim Lewis. Steve Kloves has also been brought on board for the third film to co-write the screenplay alongside J.K. Rowling.

The movie has already seen various setbacks in production due to needs for rewrites, as well as delays due to Covid-19. Rather than releasing in on November 12, 2021, the third Fantastic Beasts film is currently slated for release July 15, 2022.