Mads Mikkelsen In Talks To Replace Johnny Depp In Fantastic Beasts 3

Legendary actor Mads Mikkelsen is reportedly hot on the heels of Johnny Depp to replace him in Fantastic Beasts 3.

Deadline reports the Hannibal actor is director David Yates' top choice to step into the role of Gellert Grindelwald, which has been vacated since Depp was formally asked to step down.

Mads is said to be in 'early talks' about portraying the movie villain for the third instalment to the franchise created by J.K. Rowling after the Harry Potter movie series was done.

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 $10 million salary for the role, even though he only filmed one scene.

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

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.

Featured Image Credit: PA

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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