Mads Mikkelsen Officially Cast In Fantastic Beasts 3 To Replace Johnny Depp

Mads Mikkelsen has been officially cast in Fantastic Beasts 3 and will replace the outgoing Johnny Depp.

The Wrap says Warner Bros has made the deal official and the Hannibal star will get to work on becoming the iconic Gellert Grindelwald

Depp was dropped by Warner Bros when he lost his libel case against The Sun newspaper and executive editor Dan Wootton. Despite this, the 57-year-old will still get his full salary for the role, even though he only filmed one scene.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Pirates of The Caribbean star will still be entitled to what is said to be an eight-figure deal with the studio, meaning he'll walk away with at least $10 million (£7.6m).

Warner Bros.

Filming started for the movie on 20 September in London and Depp had what is known as a 'pay-or-play contract' which requires him to be fully compensated whether or not the film is made - even if he is recast.

The libel case centred on whether an article published in The Sun, in which Depp was called a 'wife beater', was libellous.

Depp argued the case had been aggravated by his name being included alongside that of convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein, as well as the fact The Sun retained the article on its website.

The case was decided on the balance of probabilities - a lower standard than required in a criminal case.

The Sun's article claimed that Depp had assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard, leading to a legal battle which has been described as the biggest English libel trial of the 21st century.

The newspaper claimed to have seen 'overwhelming evidence' that Depp had attacked the 34-year-old Heard, while Depp strenuously denies those allegations.

Both Depp and Heard ended up giving evidence in the 16-day-long trial, which aired the tempestuous nature of their relationship, and stories of both brutal violence and intimate detail.

Following the ruling, a spokesperson for The Sun said: "The Sun has stood up and campaigned for the victims of domestic abuse for over twenty years.

"Domestic abuse victims must never be silenced and we thank the Judge for his careful consideration and thank Amber Heard for her courage in giving evidence to the court."

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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