Johnny Depp forced to exit Fantastic Beasts franchise. (Photo: Warner Bros.)Actor Johnny Depp said on Friday he is resigning from the Fantastic Beasts movie franchise after losing a libel case in Britain against a tabloid that called him a “wife beater.”
Depp, writing on Instagram, said that AT&T Inc’s Warner Bros movie studio had asked him to leave his role as villain Gellert Grindelwald. “I have respected and agreed to that request,” he said.
Warner Bros said in a statement that Johnny Depp will depart the Fantastic Beasts franchise, and that the role of Grindelwald would be recast.
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The third film in the Fantastic Beasts franchise recently resumed production and is expected to arrive in theatres in 2022, Warner Bros said.
Johnny Depp wrote in his Instagram account that he planned to appeal the judgment against him in the London libel trial. “My life and career will not be defined by this moment in time,” he added.