Mads Mikkelsen In Talks To Join “Fantastic Beasts 3” As Grindelwald!

Like it or not, Johnny Depp has now been officially ruled a wife-beater by a British court, and there’s likely very little he can do at this point to prove otherwise. The ruling, which came about after a prolonged legal battle between Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard (whom Depps claims physically and emotionally abused him, and who herself claims to be the victim of Depp’s own abusive tendencies), has already led to consequences for Depp, at least from a business perspective: it wasn’t long after the court case ended that Warner Brothers announced they had let him go from the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Depp was actually the first to break the news, in an Instagram post where he admitted that Warner Brothers had asked him to resign from the role of the dark wizard Grindelwald, a pivotal character in the franchise whom he has played since the Fantastic Beasts franchise’s start in 2016.

Fantastic Beasts
digitalspy.com

What both Depp and Warner Brothers neglected to mention at the time was that Depp, who had not yet filmed any scenes for the third film in the Fantastic Beasts series, would nonetheless be receiving his full 8-figure salary for his work. In light of that reveal, I think we can all agree that – no matter how you feel about Depp and the allegations against him – the actor has been left financially well-equipped by Warner Brothers to continue his fight in court (he hopes to challenge Heard again for libel, here in the United States), and probably find work elsewhere before long. In the meantime, filming is still underway for Fantastic Beasts 3, but the movie now needs a new Grindelwald fast – he’s not a side-character who can just be removed from the story. He’s the main antagonist of the series.

Luckily for the franchise and its small but admittedly devoted hardcore fandom, it seems that Fantastic Beasts director David Yates has long had a replacement in mind, and thus, after just a few days, Yates and Warner Brothers have expressed their intent to bring Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen into the Wizarding World. Mikkelsen, who is often cited as the actor most people wish had gotten the role in the first place, is already in early talks to join the series – a bold and potentially very risky move for the actor, who has up until now made mostly solid career choices: his most significant role to date being Hannibal in the popular TV series of the same name. He hasn’t had much luck when it comes to big film franchises, which may be part of the reason why he’s interested in taking the juicy role of Grindelwald – a charismatic fascist dictator whom we last saw mustering armies of dark wizards to conquer the world and enslave the non-magical population, and who cunningly manipulates the emotions of his nemesis and former lover, Albus Dumbledore. A few years ago I think all this would have been quite enough to convince Mikkelsen (or anyone, really) to take the role. But nowadays, I would personally be hesitant to attach Mikkelsen to the Fantastic Beasts franchise and its swiftly growing hurricane of controversy – for Mikkelsen’s sake.

Fantastic Beasts
Grindelwald | cnbc.com

It’s not just because Mikkelsen will receive a barrage of unwarranted abuse from Johnny Depp’s most ardent supporters, who will cry foul and continue to defend Depp’s right to return to the role; it’s not just that Mikkelsen will have to work around and hopefully overcome valid criticisms that the characters of Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore are written intentionally vaguely so as to queerbait audiences; it’s not even just that J.K. Rowling, the series’ creator and lead writer, is a ticking time bomb who has done her level best to destroy her own reputation and the reputations of those who associate with her by constantly waging war on the trans community in a series of attacks that ranged from depicting transwomen in her adult crime novels as serial killers by nature, to writing up entire essays about how she thinks transwomen are infiltrating spaces reserved for cisgender women or being forced to transition by nefarious forces, to unfollowing fellow author Stephen King on Twitter after he simply proclaimed that transwomen are women. It’s also that Fantastic Beasts is a struggling franchise overall, one which any bystander can see is probably on a collision course with disaster. While the first film was fairly decent and made a good profit, the sequel derailed the story entirely – and unsurprisingly, it drew in overwhelmingly negative reviews before dying a long, slow, death at the box office. Fantastic Beasts 3 is now being moved from the franchise’s consistent, safe, November release date to an alarming spot in mid-July, where it will open just a week after Captain Marvel 2, the sequel to last year’s female-led, billion-dollar-club entry. At one point, this series was supposed to be a five-film epic: now, with everything up in the air, it’s going to be extraordinarily difficult to make a fourth or fifth film happen, and J.K. Rowling would be wise to at least try and wrap up the entire series in this third movie – the only one she’s assured to get. But with the way she’s been acting recently, I’m not holding my breath. What seems more likely is that she’ll end Fantastic Beasts 3 on yet another bizarre cliffhanger just before the entire franchise gets gently terminated, leaving us all unsatisfied, frustrated, and exhausted. Either that or Warner Brothers sticks with J.K. Rowling’s vision and continues to suffer the consequences.

And as for Mads Mikkelsen personally, well, he’ll get a big paycheck for sure, but the laundry list of possible consequences for him for taking this role goes on. Right upfront, he’ll be expected to come up with an excuse for how he can be comfortable working under J.K. Rowling – and, in fact, all the Fantastic Beasts stars will need to do so before long. So far, the series’ lead Eddie Redmayne has wavered between vocally condemning Rowling’s harsh rhetoric and writing supportive letters to her. Mikkelsen should be ready with a statement of his own: if he signs on, he will become the first major actor to join the franchise after Rowling’s transphobic views became widely-known, putting him in an unenviable position. For the moment, he’ll also carry the massive burden of trying to rescue the franchise (assuming that’s even a concern of Warner Brothers’ at this point): he’s the only new name thus far attached to the cast, and none of his costars, not even Jude Law, did much to draw audiences to theaters when the last film came out in 2018. Depp’s parting and Rowling’s statements make it inevitable that we’ll also see calls to boycott in the months and weeks leading up to the film’s release: there’s a widespread feeling among the fandom that supporting Fantastic Beasts financially equals supporting transphobia.

Fantastic Beasts
Mads Mikkelsen | independent.co.uk

With that being said, Mikkelsen is popular enough that he might actually be able to rescue the franchise, though he’ll never be able to repair all the damage that’s been done. Since the news of his involvement broke last night, I’ve been surprised to see a surge of people expressing renewed interest in the upcoming third film, saying that they’ll watch it just for Mikkelsen, or at least catch it on HBO Max. Granted, this moment of hype could die out by the time the film actually opens, and we’ll have to see how Mikkelsen looks and acts in the Grindelwald costume (or if he gets embroiled in any controversy of his own, something I truly hope doesn’t happen), but he’s almost certain to turn in a great performance: the kind of performance that could even get Fantastic Beasts some good reviews. If Warner Brothers is trying to get this franchise off their hands, they might have chosen too good an actor to make that possible just yet.

So what do you think? Is Mikkelsen a much-needed win for a franchise getting back on its feet after failure, or is this a disastrous career choice the actor will regret for a long time? Share your own thoughts, theories, and opinions, in the comments below!

“Fantastic Beasts 3” Has Been Greenlit!

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald was not a good movie. In fact, it can be argued that it was a downright bad one – certainly critics and audiences were almost unanimous in their condemnation of the film’s many convoluted subplots, crowded cast of characters, and disrespect toward Wizarding World canon. Nonetheless, many of us hoped and prayed that, despite fan backlash, despite that ugly Rotten score, despite (worst of all) the lower box-office returns, the franchise could reach its full potential in a third installment, a third film that could right Grindelwald‘s wrongs and put the series back on track. We, the faithful few, suffered devastating setback after devastating setback: the film was pushed back to a 2021 release date; star Ezra Miller’s busy schedule seemed to indicate that he might be leaving the Beasts franchise, or worse, that it might be canceled – these were the concerns that kept us awake at night. We heard rumors that Johnny Depp was out as Grindelwald; that Warner Brothers had lost faith in writer J.K. Rowling’s ability to turn out a good film; that nothing was certain.

Today, one year after Crimes Of Grindelwald put the franchise’s future into question – a third film has been confirmed.

"Fantastic Beasts 3" Has Been Greenlit! 1
cinemablend.com

Beasts is not dead, despite how long it took to get the series off of life-support. In Fantastic Beasts 3, the franchise will need to work harder than ever before to convince fans to stick around – but Rowling can’t rely on the same tactics she thought would make Grindelwald an instant hit: her literary style, the complexity of her stories, her excessive callbacks to Harry Potter – that all needs to stop now, for the third film to work. No more subplots within subplots within subplots, all stuffed into one gigantic red-herring; no more half-baked characters tossed into the story to fill up space and time; no more queer-baiting Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s LGBTQ relationship. It’s time to put the focus back where it belongs, on the core narrative of our four heroes (Newt Scamander, Jacob Kowalski, Tina and Queenie Goldstein), and strip away the layers upon layers of underdeveloped plot that turned Grindelwald into the tangled mess that it was. Bring us back to basics, Jo, and give us a good, stand-alone story that is comprehensible, accessible, and enjoyable.

Thankfully, she’s not alone. As many of us suspected and hoped would be the case, a real screenwriter has been brought onboard to assist Rowling in translating her impressive vision to the big screen: Steve Kloves, the writer for all of the Harry Potter films (except Order Of The Phoenix). Rowling was originally set the write the third film on her own, but reason has prevailed.

I’m not saying that Rowling is not a good writer – on the contrary, I believe she is quite an excellent one: she has an eye for detail, she weaves clues and hints into her writing in an intriguing way that allows fans to play along, and she has a knack for compelling mystery (so much so that, when not writing wizard books/movies, she writes mystery novels under a pseudonym). But her style is best suited to the literary format, where she has all the time she needs to write those mysteries and weave those intricate stories. In a two-hour film, her plot is virtually bursting at the seams, demanding to be given space to breathe, pleading with the viewer for more time – time that Rowling simply doesn’t have. With a professional screenwriter at her side, she will hopefully be able to edit her story down to a decent size, give it a clear focus, and make it just a bit more cinematic: certainly there’s enough in the third film to make a good movie, it just needs a good script.

Fantastic Beasts 3 is confirmed to be another world-hopping adventure like the first two films, with Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, set as one of the main locations – though the Deadline article in which the news broke does make it seem like the story will span several continents: which would fit in with what star Dan Fogler suggested earlier this year, that the third film would be bigger in scale than the first two combined. Oh please, Jo, don’t mess this up. This could be your last chance – don’t mess this up!

The regular cast, including Johnny Depp as Grindelwald and Jude Law as young Albus Dumbledore, are confirmed to be returning for the third film. Jessica Williams, who had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in Grindelwald as Professor Eulalie “Lally” Hicks, will also have a pivotal role, though no further details have been revealed about her character. Production will begin in Spring of 2020.

What do you think of the news? Are you relieved, or disappointed that the franchise is continuing? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

“Ophelia” Trailer!

The stories of Shakespeare have been redundantly adapted to the big screen over and over again, but every now and again there comes a fresh look at the classic stories that truly turns the tables and gives modern audiences a new taste for the Bard and his work.

Ophelia, an interesting new spin on the old Hamlet story, looks like it could be one such game-changer. Here, the camera has been turned on one of the play’s supporting characters: the princess Ophelia, who is usually only remembered these days for her iconic death by drowning. This is a chance to bring an overlooked heroine into the spotlight, and Ophelia seems to be giving the princess a more active role, while also highlighting the role of Hamlet’s mother Queen Gertrude. Daisy Ridley of Star Wars will take on the role of Ophelia, while Gertrude will be portrayed by Naomi Watts. Tom Felton, best known as Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series, will play Ophelia’s devoted brother Laertes. That sort of star power can’t be ignored.

Without stepping too far into the fantastical, Ophelia looks to be bringing the story to life in a fresh and exciting way: with wars, political intrigue, romance and tragedy cleverly viewed from a woman’s eyes – not just in front of the camera, but behind it too, as the film is directed by Australian filmmaker Claire McCarthy. Too many adaptations of these medieval stories try to give them a modern spin (such as last year’s mega-flop Robin Hood, which tried to turn the hero of English folklore into a literal superhero). Ophelia, on the other hand, has a definite antiquated atmosphere, from the poetic dialogue to the beautiful vistas of Danish landscapes – well, technically, Czech Republic landscapes, but whatever. Some quite picturesque castles, at any rate.

Trailer Rating: 7/10