We'd have loved to see Colin back, but this is pretty great casting
It looks like there's already a replacement for Johnny Depp in the 'Fantastic Beasts' franchise. The actor played the evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the 'Harry Potter' spin-off.
Depp announced last weekend that he'd "been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in 'Fantastic Beasts' and [had] respected and agreed to that request."
The actor had recently lost his UK libel trial with the Sun newspaper regarding abuse allegations by ex-wife Amber Heard.
Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen is now in early talks to take over the role of the antagonist.
He next stars in 'Another Round', which will release in Irish cinemas when they reopen.
Mikkelsen has played a number of bad guys before in the likes of 'Casino Royale', 'Doctor Strange' and 'Hannibal'. So it's a good fit.
Reportedly Depp had only shot one scene of the third 'Fantastic Beasts' film.
Thus his replacement won't need to shoot too much additional footage.
It's worth noting though that there's no done deal yet.
But David Yates is determined to secure an actor to play Grindelwald soon as the latest 'Wizarding World' movie has been shooting for a while now.
The upcoming sequel will see Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Jude Law and Ezra Miller all return.
'Fantastic Beasts 3' is set to open on July 15, 2022.