Mads Mikkelsen could replace Johnny Depp in Fantastic Beasts

Photo: Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Im

Just days after Johnny Depp revealed he had been Fantastic beasts franchise, stoic Danish dreamboat Mads Mikkelsen is in talks to replace him as Gellert Grindelwald. By deadline, Mikkelsen is director David Yates’ first choice to play the character in the upcoming third Fantastic beasts film (the franchise will have five films in total). The third film, which also stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander and Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore, is currently filming. The film was originally slated for release on November 12, 2021, but was recently pushed back to summer 2022. Depp announced he was kicked out of the franchise last week on Instagram; he claimed that Warner Bros. asked him to resign after losing a libel case against the British tabloid The sun. In his Instagram statement, Depp confirmed he would appeal and wrote that “his life and career will not be defined by this moment in time.”