With word that the JK Rowling penned film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find, which currently has plans as a five-picture project, had Johnny Depp boarding it, more details have now come out ahead of the debut of the first one on November 18th, 2016. According to The Leaky Cauldron, director David Yates confirms that Depp will be playing the role of Gellert Gindelwald, who has a strong connection to Dumbledore, and he goes on to explain why which in turn reveals a bit about the setting.
“The whole principal of casting the movie was go with the best actor. Go for the most inspired, interesting, right fit for that character. And as we approached Grindelwald we thought, ‘Who’s going to take this in an interesting direction?’ In this business, it’s a weird old business. You’re brilliant one week, people are saying odd things the next, you go up and down. But no one takes away your pure talent. Johnny Depp is a real artist. He’s created several characters who have really resonated in our popular culture. He’s a really brilliant, brilliant actor. We were excited about seeing what he would do with this guy, the character. He’s fearless; he’s imaginative; he’s ambitious. We thought he would do something fun and special. So we went for him, purely on that selfish basis. We don’t care if he’s famous or not famous. We just know he’s interesting.”
In regards to where this sequel will go,
“We do go back to the U.K. in the second film as well–it’s U.K. and Paris. I’m not sure where Jo is setting the rest of the movies, but they’ll be European-centric. I think it will be difficult to ignore America, but the next one is predominately Europe.”
Directed by David Yates, the first film is set for release on November 18th, 2016. It stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Colin Farrel, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Ron Pearlman, Samantha Morton, Jenny Murray, Jon Voight, Gemma Chan, Carmen Ejogo and Alison Sudol.
Plot concept: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
