The news of Johnny Depp being asked to leave the cast of “Fantastic Beasts” has made headlines all over the world. The 57-year-old actor revealed that Warner Bros. wanted him off the franchise after he lost a libel case against The Sun for calling him a “wife beater”.
Following Depp’s Instagram statement regarding this matter, many fans have come to his defence by campaigning against Warner Bros. Fans are threatening to boycott the movie if the entertainment company does not bring the Oscar winning actor back to play his role as Gellert Grindelwald.
A petition has been launched on change.org, stating that the verdict of Depp’s case with The Sun tabloid was “completely unfair”. The petition already has over 140,000 signatures at the time of writing and its description reads:
“Warner Bros should listen to the public or we will boycott the movie!!!”
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. released a statement reading, “Johnny Depp will depart the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ franchise. We thank Johnny for his work on the films to date. ‘Fantastic Beasts 3′ is currently in production, and the role of Gellert Grindelwald will be recast. The film will debut in theatres worldwide in the summer of 2022.” According to Deadline, Mads Mikkelsen is currently in talks to replace Depp.
Even though Depp shot only one scene for the new sequel of the “Harry Potter” spinoff, the Hollywood A-lister will still receive his full salary nonetheless. Thanks to his contract, “The Pirates of the Caribbean” star walks away with a thumping 8-figure payment (US$10m), regardless of whether or not the movie was made or recast.
The “Sweeney Todd” actor is currently planning to appeal against the verdict he received in court. Do you think Depp’s libel case verdict was unfair? Read more on this story here.
Sources: Metro, Perez Hilton.
