“Fantastic Beasts 3”
Can the film magic away all these problems?
Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald in the fantasy adventure Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore.
© 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
With “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets” comes the third part of the series in the cinemas. A small miracle, given the problems.
One might almost think that the film “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets”, which will be released on April 7th, has a particularly evil magic. Johnny Depp (58) has left, JK Rowling (56) has been under criticism for months – and now this too: In the week in which the third part of the “Fantastic Beasts” series celebrated its premiere in London, Ezra Miller (29) arrested.
Problem star one: Ezra Miller
The actor is currently in Hawaii, where he had trouble with the police. At the end of March it was leaked that Miller had been arrested in a karaoke bar. The officials accused the 29-year-old, who embodies the important character Credence Barebone in “Fantastic Beasts”, of disturbing the peace and harassment. He was released after posting $500 bail…
A short time later he is said to have caused problems again. A couple had apparently taken Miller in with them. The two then claimed they had been threatened and robbed by the movie star. The reported among other things “Sky News”. The fact that Miller’s scandal is no longer in the public eye is probably due to Will Smith (53) and his outbreak of violence on the Oscar stage, which made the headlines at the time. And on social networks, JK Rowling is apparently still far above the actor in terms of the hatred of numerous users…
Problem star two: JK Rowling
Nonetheless, Rowling, who is writing and co-producing the Harry Potter spin-off series, made an appearance at the March 29 premiere of Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore in London. After missing HBO’s Harry Potter reunion late last year because of her controversial statements about trans people, her appearance there caused a bit of a surprise.
Most recently, the “Harry Potter” creator caused a stir in March of this year with a controversial opinion on the subject of equality for trans women. Trans activists refer to them as TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism). So as a feminist who doesn’t recognize transgender women. The discussion about Rowling reached its bizarre climax when Russian President Vladimir Putin (69) sided with her and cited her as an example of the West’s cancel culture. Rowling fought back with a sharp tweetin which she accuses Putin of slaughtering civilians for their resistance and imprisoning and poisoning critics.
Problem star three: Johnny Depp
The controversy surrounding Rowling and the difficult production conditions in the corona pandemic were not the only problems that arose during the development of “Fantastic Beasts 3”. In the meantime, one of the main roles had to be filled again. In November 2020, a sequel to Johnny Depp, who stepped down from his role, was presented. Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (56) will now appear as Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
Johnny Depp had already returned to the set for the production of “Fantastic Beasts 3” in his role as Grindelwald. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he filmed a scene in London, then Warner Bros. asked him to resign. The reason was Depp’s lost court case against the publisher of the British “The Sun”, which described him as a “woman beater” in an article in 2018. Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard (35) continued their dirty war of roses in the process.
Is this star the salvation?
With Mads Mikkelsen as the successor to Johnny Depp, however, the makers of the film have shown a good hand. On the one hand, the wishes of many fans were answered, on the other hand, a great character mime was hired. The actor has had roles as a “Bond” villain or serial cannibal “Hannibal” proved that he masters the mixture of charismatic and diabolical.
In addition to Mikkelsen, cinema fans can look forward to many top-class stars from the two predecessors of “Fantastic Beasts”. That’s what part three is about:
Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law, 49) knows that the powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mikkelsen) wants to seize control of the magical world. Unable to stop him alone, he sends magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne, 40) and an intrepid band of wizards, witches and a brave Muggle baker on a dangerous mission that will bring them together with fantastic beasts old and new – and clashed with Grindelwald’s growing following. But how long can Dumbledore stay in the background when so much is at stake?