FANTASTIC BEASTS. Fantastic Beasts 3, in theaters this April 13, unveils Mads Mikkelsen as Johnny Depp’s replacement as Grindelwald. Why this change?
[Mis à jour le 13 avril 2022 à 12h15] The magical franchise is back in theaters. Fantastic Beasts 3: The Secrets of Dumbledore was released in theaters this Wednesday, April 13, 2022, four years after episode 2. Spectators who discover Fantastic Beasts 3 in theaters this Wednesday and who have not followed the news around the film will perhaps be surprised not to find Johnny Depp. The one who played Gellert Grindelwald in the first two films has indeed been replaced by Mads Mikkelsen.
Johnny Depp announced on November 6, 2020 that he was leaving the cast of Fantastic Beasts 3, Warner Bros having asked him to withdraw in view of the accusations of domestic violence which weigh on him (formulated by his ex-wife Amber Heard). A few days earlier, he had lost his libel suit against the Sun, which had accused him of a “violent husband”. This is one of the controversies that tainted the franchise, also polluted by critics in the face of comments deemed transphobic by JK Rowling.
The critics had been little won over by the previous episode of the Fantastic Beasts. Episode 3, titled The Secrets of Dumbledore, is not likely to rally the press to his cause. The film indeed accumulates a score of 58% of positive reviews on the American aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Screen International laments that after three films, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them continues to feel like a footnote to the initiatory narrative Harry Potter.” For the Daily Beast, the film “is never magic”, while the Hollywood Reporter judges Fantastic Beasts 3 “painful, instead of creating the event”.
In France, the media are more seduced, since Le Figaro believes that “David Yates signs a solid entertainment, full of magic and twist”. On the Parisian side, we salute both the “suspense” and the “revelations”, but also “the fantastic action scenes, remarkably served by actors in great shape, a spectacular staging and dazzling special effects” . Première, however, is one of the disappointed, believing that the film does not manage to “totally convince”, believing that the production “adds confusion to the confusion”.
What happened in the previous episode? Recap
In the latest movie fantastic animals, Gellert Grindelwald, then played by Johnny Depp, escapes from prison, determined to pursue his goal: to eradicate non-mages, or Muggles. At the same time, Norbert Dragonneau is given a mission: to find Croyance Bellebosse, an obscurial with uncontrollable powers who has attracted the interest of Grindelwald. The latter, however, manages to get his hands on the young man and rally him to his cause, before revealing to him the secret of his origins: he is part of the Dumbledore family. Finally, Jacob refuses to marry his companion Queenie, relations between wizards and muggles being prohibited, fearing that she will be imprisoned. Wounded, the witch is manipulated by the henchmen of Grindelwald and decides, against all odds, to join the cause of the black magician. During the final duel, Leta Lestrange, fiancée of Norbert’s brother, Thésée, is killed by Grindelwald.
film profile
Synopsis – Albus Dumbledore enlists the help of Newt Scamander and a team of wizards and witches to prevent Gellert Grindelwald from taking over the wizarding world. This is the third installment of the Harry Potter spin-off.
The release of Fantastic Beasts 3 has had some turbulence. Initially scheduled for release on November 20, 2020, the film’s release is finally postponed. In France, the film Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets is finally released on April 13, 2022.
- Eddie Redmayne : Norbert Scamander
- Jude LawAlbus Dumbledore
- Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald
- Ezra Miller: Bellebosse Belief
- Dan FoglerJacob Kowalski
- Alison SudolQueenie Goldstein
- Callum Turner: Theseus Scamander
- Jessica WilliamsEulalie “Lally” Hicks
- William Nadylam as Yusuf Kama
- Victoria Yeates: Bunty
- Richard CoyleAlberforth Dumbledore
- Poppy Corby-Tuech: Vinda Rosier
- Fiona GlascottMinerva McGonagall
- Katherine Waterston: Tina Goldstein
- Oliver MasucciAnton Vogel
- Alexander KuznetsovHelmut
Interpreter of Gellert Grindelwald, the main antagonist, in the first two episodes of Fantastic Beasts, Johnny Depp was initially to appear in the casting of the third film. But the presence in the casting of the actor accused of violence against his ex-wife Amber Heard tarnishes the reputation of the film. So much so that Warner Bros considered in April 2019 to dismiss it for the sequel to Fantastic Beasts. According to the site Page Six, “high-placed women in the studio are very worried about working with Depp and the message it sends to the public”. On November 6, 2020, the actor finally announced that he was stepping down from the role after Warner Bros asked him to step down. The move comes days after Johnny Depp lost his defamation lawsuit against the Sun, which accused him of being a “violent husband” to his ex-wife Amber Heard. He is replaced in the casting by Mads Mikkelsen.
Mads Mikkelsen takes over the role of Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 3. Warner Bros has announced that the Danish actor, seen recently in Drunk, will replace Johnny Depp after his ousting. He was also one of the first choices of David Yates, director of the film, when it was necessary to find a replacement for the original interpreter. As a reminder, in the first episode, the character was played (secretly) by Colin Farrell, before the character of Grindelwald reveals his true face thanks to a spell, that of Johnny Depp.
Blockbuster viewers are now accustomed to waiting until the end of a film’s credits in the hope of discovering a post-credits scene. No need to wait until the end Fantastic Beasts 3: Dumbledore’s Secrets : as was the case for previous films (and more broadly the Harry Potter franchise), no new scene is to be seen at the end of the credits.
During a press conference on March 28, 2022, Jude Law and Mads Mikkelsen shared a little more about how they worked on the relationship between the two characters, which Harry Potter fans are eagerly waiting to find out. “For me, it was important to think about who Albus was before meeting Gellert, remembers Jude Law. I always thought that being Dumbledore, that is to say brilliant and remarkable from his youth, he felt very alone. Suddenly, he meets Gellert, who is someone as brilliant as him, who is his equal and who inspires him. This connection is very powerful, especially when you are young. It was important to have in mind that they were able to spend very special moments together. Until this terrible moment, when they realize that they are no longer in phase and that they are moving away from each other, which does not doesn’t extinguish the chemistry that there was between them at the start. On the contrary, it makes everything more difficult.”
In preparation for Fantastic Beasts 3, Jude Law talked a lot with Mads Mikkelsen about the relationship between their two characters and their past. “Mads’ opinion sometimes differed from mine elsewhere,” adds the British actor. For the Danish comedian, the important thing was to “make it sound true and real”, despite the magical environment that surrounds their characters. “We really wanted this relationship to be realistic and real: they are real people, in real situations, who have experienced real disappointment with each other. […] Sometimes, we even forgot that the magic was present in certain scenes.”