Johnny Depp May Be Dropped From Fantastic Beasts After His Loss In Court
Johnny Depp might be getting replaced for the next Fantastic Beasts film.
This article is more than 2 years old
Johnny Depp just lost a vital case in his ongoing legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard and it sounds like the ramifications of that verdict could be felt in the actor’s upcoming blockbuster film, Fantastic Beasts 3. We Got This Covered is reporting that the studio is looking to reduce the prominence of Depp’s role as Gellert Grindlewald, the main antagonist of the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
Production is currently underway on Fantastic Beasts 3 and Johnny Depp is still officially on board for the role, but it sounds like there is some serious strategizing going on about how to approach Depp’s presence in the upcoming film. It might even be possible that he could be replaced in a very magical sort of way. The Wizarding World is full of spells and potions that can change the appearance of a character, and Gellert Grindlewald actually appeared as a completely different character, Percival Graves, in the original Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Could this be the way Warner Bros. is able to sidestep Johnny Depp showing up on-screen a whole bunch in Fantastic Beasts 3? The character of Gellert Grindlewald is crucial to the ongoing story that is being told in this newest series from J.K. Rowling. It would be a devastating blow if the story had to remove him from as much of the plot as possible. By changing the visage of Gellert Grindlewald into someone else other than Johnny Depp, the series would be able to keep its main villain and audiences might not be as strongly reminded of Depp’s presence in the film.
However, that option is actually quite unlikely. With production already shooting Fantastic Beasts 3, this kind of story decision would require some serious recasting. That kind of search is going to be extremely difficult within the time constraints of a film production schedule. Perhaps the other route the studio will take to diminish Johnny Depp’s screen time will be delegating his original screen time to other villains in Grindlewald’s employ.
Whatever happens, it seems pretty clear that Johnny Depp is going to be struggling with his public persona even more than ever. It could end up that his desirability in Hollywood is going to tank and we won’t be seeing him in too many major studio tentpole films after Fantastic Beasts 3. There is nothing else listed on the actor’s IMDB page as far as upcoming projects are concerned. Could Fantastic Beasts 3 signal a defining endpoint for event cinema roles in the actor’s long career?
We will have to wait and see what becomes of Johnny Depp’s role in Fantastic Beasts 3. And we will also be anticipating what this newest legal loss will mean for the public’s perception of this once widely-beloved actor. Will the public outright reject him and will it taint his massive legacy in the world of film? Could his career really be at the end of its rope? All around, it just seems like it is a really bad time to be Johnny Depp.
