Johnny Depp replaced by Mads Mikkelsen in Fantastic Beasts movie franchise

Johnny Depp has been replaced by Mads Mikkelsen in the movie
series ‘Fantastic Beasts’, Warner Bros. has announced in a statement, CNN
reported on Thursday.

Depp had played the role of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald
in the first two installments of the series released in 2016 and 2018.

Danish actor Mikkelsen had earlier been seen in Hollywood
movies like ‘Casino Royale’, ‘Hannibal’, and ‘Rogue One: Star Wars Story’.

Depp had earlier announced on Instagram in a statement that
he had been asked to resign from the film franchise by the production firm.

The decision had come in the wake of Depp’s losing a libel suit
against British tabloid The Sun, which the actor had filed challenging the
newspaper’s reporting of his alleged abuse of his then wife actress Amber
Heard.

“… I wish to tell you 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,” Depp had written in his statement.

“The surreal judgement of the court in the UK will not change
my fight to tell the truth and I confirm that I plan to appeal,” he added.

The next Fantastic Beast movie is slated to be released on
July 15, 2022. There is a plan of producing five movies in all, according to writer
J. K. Rowling.