Earlier this month, it was announced that Johnny Depp was asked by Warner Bros. to step down from his role as Gellert Grindelwald in the third Fantastic Beasts movie and recent reports have suggested that Hannibal and Doctor Strange actor Mads Mikkelsen is in talks to take over the role.
However, in a recent interview with IGN, Mikkelsen discussed these recent reports and stated that he knows as much as we do about the recasting as it is currently just a rumour.
“Oh, that is on the rumour basis as we speak,” Mikkelsen said. “So I know as much as you do from the newspapers. So I’m waiting for that phone call.”
While Mikkelsen has claimed the casting is just a rumour, it is also possibly the actor is simply playing coy until the contract is signed or he is unable to say anything definitive until the studio is ready to make an official announcement.
As mentioned above, Warner Bros asked Johnny Depp earlier this month to walk away from The Wizarding World just days after the actor lost a heated legal battle against the British tabloid, The Sun. Although Depp only shot one day on the project, he will still receive his full eight-figure salary, believed to be around $10 million.
Fantastic Beasts 3 is being directed by David Yates from a screenplay by franchise creator J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves. Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Katherine Waterston, and Jessica Williams are all set to return to the cast as Newt Scamander, Albus Dumbledore, Credence/Aurelius Dumbledore, Queenie Goldstein, Jacob Kowalski, Tina Goldstein, and Professor Eulalie Hicks respectively. The film is currently scheduled to debut on July 15th 2022.
