The updates on Fantastic Beasts 3 have been few and far between for almost a year, but it looks like there is finally some good news about the highly anticipated film. The follow-up to 2018's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald has just been greenlighted and is expected to begin filming next spring. But, why is it taking so long for the Harry Potter spin-off movie to begin production? It was revealed that the delay has a lot to do with Johnny Depp's court date in the new trial against his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
Fans have been expecting Fantastic Beasts 3 to start filming in early 2020 after The Crimes of Grindelwald star Dan Fogler announced that the cast will begin working in February next year. Fogler also revealed that author J.K. Rowling has already finished the script for the third movie, which means that the cast and crew were already preparing for pre-production. Unfortunately, a more recent report from Variety stated that the sequel will be filmed around Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in Spring 2020. Not surprisingly, people believe that the surprising move of the production date was caused by Johnny Depp's upcoming court date.
Johnny Depp had previously played a small role in the first Fantastic Beasts movie before becoming the main villain in The Crimes of Grindelwald. Since the second film teased on an epic fight between Jude Law's Albus Dumbledore and Depp's Gellert Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts 3 wouldn't work without the former Pirates of the Caribbean star. However, Depp is currently embroiled in a $50 million defamation suit against ex-wife Amber Heard, who had previously claimed that she was a victim of domestic abuse. The trial date has been set for February 3, 2020 in Virginia and is expected to take at least a month before being settled.
It is still unclear what will happen between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. However, Depp is expected to return in Fantastic Beasts 3 along with Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Jude Law, Dan Fogler, and Ezra Miller. Although the premise of the third film has not yet been revealed, it could focus on Miller's Credence Barebone, finally confronting Albus Dumbledore, who he believes is his long-lost brother.
Will Johnny Depp's trial against Amber Heard get settled before his new film begins production? Fantastic Beasts 3 will start filming in spring of 2020 and is scheduled for release on Nov. 12, 2021.
