Johnny Depp has been asked to step down from his role in Fantastic Beasts and Mads Mikkelsen will now be his replacement. Warner Bros. confirmed the news on Wednesday, as Depp also made a statement of his own earlier this month: “I wish to let you know 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.”
According to Entertainment Tonight, Warner Bros. stated: “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.” The news may not come as much of a shock to some after Depp lost his libel court case in the United Kingdom on Nov. 2, stemming to the case where he previously sued The Sun and executive editor Dan Wootton after the article referred to him as a “wife-beater” when talking about him and his ex-wife Amber Heard‘s messy relationship.
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The Pirates of the Caribbean actor was married to Heard from 2015 to 2017. Both have accused each other abuse physical abuse throughout the duration of their relationship. Depp has denied any physical abuse towards Heard, accusing her of using makeup to stage bruises on her body and face. Following the announcement of Depp having to step away from yet another famous role, his former co-star Jude Law — who played a young Albus Dumbledore in the second film of the franchise — shared his thoughts on the recent news.
“It’s an enormous film, and there are many, many layers to it. It’s probably one of the biggest productions I’ve ever worked on,” he detailed. “And in a situation like this, you defer to the studio. That’s all you can do. Because you have to turn up and play your part … in a franchise like this, it’s the studio and the company that makes the big decisions, and you have to go along with those because we’re just a member of the team.”
Since Depp has been forced to walk away from work, onlookers couldn’t help but assume that Heard would be in the same boat. The actress starred in Aquaman and stated that she would be in the second film, although production hasn’t started yet. However, Depp supporters are demanding she is cut from her role too.
