Mads Mikkelsen in Talks to Replace Johnny Depp in Fantastic Beasts 3 Following Forced Exit
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images, Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Mads Mikkelsen is in early talks to replace Johnny Depp in Fantastic Beasts 3 following Depp’s forced exit from the franchise.
Last week, Depp announced on Instagram that he’d been “asked to resign by Warner Bros.” from his role as the evil wizard Grindelwald in the Harry Potter spinoff, adding, “I have respected and agreed to that request.”
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Depp’s forced resignation came after losing a libel lawsuit against the U.K. tabloid The Sun, which referred to him as a “wife beater” while covering the allegations that he abused ex-wife Amber Heard. A judge declared there was evidence to render the term “substantially true,” but Depp has vehemently denied the claims.
Deadline was first to report the news that Mikkelsen, best known for his starring role on NBC’s Hannibal, is the number one choice to replace Depp.
Warner Bros. released a statement last week saying, “Johnny Depp will depart the Fantastic Beasts franchise. We thank Johnny for his work on the films to date. Fantastic Beasts 3 is currently in production, and the role of Gellert Grindelwald will be recast.”
Before being asked to resign, Depp had already shot a scene for the film, which has been delayed from November 2021 to July 2022. Mikkelsen would join a cast that includes Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law and Ezra Miller.
Variety reported last week that Colin Farrell, who played Grindelwald in the first Fantastic Beasts movie, is unable to replace Depp due to his commitments playing the Penguin in The Batman, which is currently in production.
As we noted in September, Depp had filed a motion to delay his $50 million defamation lawsuit against Heard so he could instead film Fantastic Beasts 3. That motion was granted, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and not the reason that Depp had pitched.
