In November, it was announced that Warner Brothers asked Johnny Depp to resign from his role of Grindelwald in the third film of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series. He agreed to step down and actor Mads Mikkelsen was promptly tapped to fill that role.
A new update arrives today with the news from Hollywood Reporter that Depp will be paid the entire sum of his earlier contracted salary of $16 million, despite only filming one scene. Depp’s contract was pay-or-play with no morality clause, meaning the studio had no work arounds once making the call to recast.
The call was made by Warner Bros. following Depp’s loss in his libel case against The Sun, who had called him an alleged “wife beater” in a publication. Depp has continued to deny the assault allegations, saying on Instagram in his announcement of resignation that “My resolve remains strong and I intend to prove that the allegations against me are false.”
Hollywood Reporter also stated that Depp has been dropped from an upcoming Harry Houdini project with Jerry Bruckheimer. His other upcoming project Minimata is still scheduled to be released as usual this February.
The longstanding legal battle between Heard and Depp is set to continue with Depp’s $50 million defamation lawsuit again Heard scheduled to take place in Virginia in early 2021.
Photo credit: Raymond Flotat
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