It was revealed last year that Warner Bros. had asked Johnny Depp to resign as Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 3. With production already underway, it didn't take long before the studio confirmed that Mads Mikkelsen would be stepping into the role.
The whole process took place extremely quickly as Warner Bros. wanted to fill the role as soon as possible, and Mikkelsen told The Sunday Times that he wishes he had had time to speak with Johnny Depp about taking on the role.
I don't know what happened [in his private life] and I don't know if it was fair, him losing the job, but I just knew that the show was going on. And I would've loved to have talked to him about it if I had the chance, but I just don't know him in that sense. But they called me and they were obviously in a hurry, and I loved the script and so said yes. And I know it was controversial for many people, but that's just the way it plays out once in a while.
Johnny Depp briefly appeared as the dark wizard Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, before taking on a much larger role in the sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The actor had already shot one scene in the new film before Warner Bros. asked him to step down. The studio had been waiting to see how Depp's ongoing legal battle against ex-wife Amber Heard played out, but despite getting the boot, Depp will still be receiving his full salary for the project. As far as Mads Mikkelsen's portrayal of Grindelwald, the actor said that he "didn't want to copy what Johnny had done" as mimicking the "masterful actor" would have been "creative suicide." Mikkelsen continued: "I had to figure out something that was definitely my own, and yet also act as a bridge to what he had done. My take is different, and the look is a little different, but we'll have to wait for the film's release [next year] to find out."
Fantastic Beasts 3 will hit theaters on July 15, 2021.