'Doctor Strange' actor Mads Mikkelsen in early talks to replace Johnny Depp in 'Fantastic Beasts 3'

'Doctor Strange' actor Mads Mikkelsen is in early talks to replace Johnny Depp taking over his role of the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in 'Fantastic Beasts 3.'

According to Variety, 'Fantastic Beasts 3' is currently in production in the UK and Depp had shot just one scene as Grindelwald before leaving the film.

This comes days after Depp's exit from the spinoff of the 'Harry Potter' series which followed after he lost his libel case against The Sun, a British tabloid that published an article in 2018 alleging he was a "wife-beater."

Depp announced his exit from the Warner Bros. project earlier this week stating that he was asked to resign by the studios.

As it was conceived by J.K. Rowling in her novel, Grindelwald is a brilliant and ruthless dark wizard who in his youth maintained a complicated romantic relationship with the famed wizard Albus Dumbledore.

As per Variety, David Yates is helming the film from a screenplay written by Rowling and Steve Kloves. The films are being produced by Rowling, Kloves, David Heyman, and Lionel Wigram are producing.

Following Depp's exit from the film, Warner Bros had also pushed back the release of 'Fantastic Beasts 3' to July 15, 2022.

( With inputs from ANI )