Warner Bros. released why they made the decision to ask Johnny Depp to step down

Johnny Depp posted that he was asked to step down from the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series and Warner Bros. has opened up on why they made the decision.

Johnny Depp is no longer part of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series. The actor took to Instagram to share the news that he was asked to step down and now Warner Bros. is talking about their decision.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. wanted to wait and see what the judge ruled in his on-going defamation case and once the verdict came in, made the decision. It’s frustrating for a lot of reasons and the fact that Johnny Depp is still going to be paid his full salary despite only filming one scene is just another frustrating layer on top of it.

"Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Warners wanted to allow due process to take its course before making a decision on the embattled star’s future in the franchise. Once Judge Andrew Nicol ruled that he accepted Heard’s testimony, which was detailed and painted a picture of Depp as an abuser, Emmerich’s decision was a fait accompli, with the studio opting to recast the role less than midway through the franchise."

With all of this, it does put a lot of the Fantastic Beasts series up in the air. Are they going to continue with Grindelwald’s storyline? Or are they going to take this chance to take a look at what works and doesn’t with this franchise and go from there? It will be interesting to see because there IS quite a few movies still left on Warner Bros. deal so we might either see a different look into the series or may less movies than we originally thought. We’ll have to wait and see what ends up happening with the series.

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