It looks like Warner Bros. is not wasting any time in replacing actor Johnny Depp in their Fantastic Beasts film series. According to Deadline, actor Mads Mikkelsen is in talks to replace Depp in the role of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
Depp was asked to leave the project by Warner Bros. sometime shortly after he lost his libel case against the British tabloid The Sun. He did so, posting an announcement on his Instagram that: “I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and I have respected and agreed to that request.”
Sources close to the production say that it is director David Yates who pushed for Mikkelsen to fill the role. And it makes sense, given the actor’s poise and his proven ability to play villains with flare, including the infamous Hannibal Lector in NBC’s Hannibal and Kaecilius in Doctor Strange. Fans wanted Colin Farrell, who played Grindelwald in disguise in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but it is unlikely to happen. As Variety points out in their coverage of the Depp firing, Farrell is currently hard at work filing for The Batman, in which he plays the villain The Penguin.
No word yet to when these talks might conclude and Mikkelsen will be locked into the role. At the time of writing, Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law are shooting their parts now.
Fantastic Beasts 3 is set to premiere in theaters in the summer of 2022.
