Actor Johnny Depp has been asked to resign from the Fantastic Beasts movie franchise byWarner Brosafter he lost his libel case with the British tabloid paper The Sun. The claim was brought after the paper had published a story labelling Depp a wife beater.
Depp announced his departure from the franchise in a post onInstagramthanking fans for their support and vowing to appeal the decision writing, “The surreal judgement in the U.K. will not change my fight to tell the truth.”
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Originally Depp brought the suit against The Sun and its executive editor Dan Wooton over a report that alleged 16 counts of violence against his then-wife Amber Heard. The libel dispute centered on two issues: the meaning of the original story and whether it was true. The judge recognized that there had been serious harm done to Depp’s reputation by the story but the majority of allegations of assault against Amber Heard were substantially true and the judge dismissed Depp’s claim.
Confirming the news, Warner Bros. put out a statement reading, “Johnny Depp will depart theFantastic Beastsfranchise. We thank Johnny for his work on the films to date.Fantastic Beasts 3is currently in production, and the role of Gellert Grindelwald will be recast. The film will debut in theaters worldwide in the summer of 2022.”
Depp had played the part of Grindelwald in theHarry Potterprequel spin offFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themreleased in 2016, reprising the role in the 2018 sequelFantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The third film in the series originally was expected in 2021 has had its release pushed back to summer 2022 with two further sequels expected to follow. But there’s no word yet on who will be taking over the role from Depp.
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