LOS ANGELES — Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen has been chosen to replace Johnny Depp in the upcoming third film in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, Warner Bros. said on Wednesday.
Mikkelsen, 55, who is known for his role as serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the U.S. television series “Hannibal,” will play the evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the spinoff movie from “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling.
Depp was forced to exit the role earlier this month after losing a libel case in Britain against a tabloid newspaper that branded him a “wife beater.” The three-week trial in July heard evidence from Depp and his former wife Amber Heard about a tempestuous marriage marked by violenc…
Keep on reading: Denmark’s Mads Mikkelsen to replace Depp in next ‘Fantastic Beasts’ movie