A first look at footage from the upcoming third “Fantastic Beasts” movie has given us a preview of Mads Mikkelsen as the villainous Gellert Grindelwald, a role filled by Johnny Depp in the first two “Fantastic Beasts” movies.
The official trailer for “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” arrives on Monday, Dec. 13 but Warner Bros. has released a teaser for said trailer in the form of a video celebrating the 20th anniversary of the film franchise. The majority of the video focuses on the “Harry Potter” fandom as a whole, be it book fans, film fans or fans of the stage play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” or the Wizarding World theme park at Universal Studios. But the final 30 seconds of the video offers our first look at footage from “Fantastic Beasts 3.”
David Yates, who directed the final four “Potter” films and first two “Fantastic Beasts” films, returns to helm this third installment. But while J.K. Rowling had sole screenplay credit on the first two “Beasts” movies, she shares screenplay credit on the third film with Steve Kloves, who wrote all but one of the “Harry Potter” films.
This third “Fantastic Beasts” movie is also notable for the recasting of Gellert Grindelwald, who was played by Johnny Depp in the first two films and has been set up as the primary antagonist in this planned five-film franchise. But following increased backlash to Depp’s casting over accusations of abuse against Amber Heard, he was asked to bow out of the third film and acquiesced.
Mads Mikkelsen takes over the role in “The Secrets of Dumbledore,” and we get our brief first look at the actor’s take on the character in this snippet of footage. The teaser comes a few weeks before the highly anticipated “Harry Potter” reunion special, which debuts on HBO Max on Jan. 1, 2022.
Check back for the full trailer on Monday. “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” also stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner and Ezra Miller.
Check out the teaser above.
