Spoilers Fantastic Beasts 3 has been officially greenlit, and will be set in Rio de Janeiro

[Masiral]

but a silly fictional universe is not a great fit for dark and brooding WW2 allegories, IMO. In a flick about kids on an adventure at a magic boarding school, waving small sticks around works because it reflects the whimsy of childhood, and puts youngsters and adults on a more or less equal footing. When it's a story about just adults... not so much.

Given that Yates' Wizarding World movies all looks drab and dreary as heck, moreover, I have no confidence whatsoever that the move to Rio will bring any of the color or vitality that's been missing since Goblet of Fire back to the franchise.

Goblet of Fire... the fun silly movie where Harry is tortured, Cedric is murdered in cold blood, and the other wizard Hitler rises from the dead! Harry Potter has always had dark and brooding elements. The dementors are the stuff of nightmares, Ginny has her mind dominated by Voldemort at age 11, and the connection of Grindelwald to WW2 is in the very first book.

 

[Gaith]

Harry Potter has always had dark and brooding elements.

Exactly - elements. It also used to have light and fanciful elements, however, such as House point competitions, Quidditch games, adolescent romance, and using dragons in inter-school sporting competitions. But, starting in Year 5, Rowling's previously canny balancing act toppled over onto the dark and brooding side, and the franchise has gone creatively downhill ever since.

The premise of FB1 seemed to acknowledge the franchise's enduring need for light and fanciful elements, but by all accounts, FB2 forgot that entirely.

 

[TommyR01D]

I have no confidence whatsoever that the move to Rio will bring any of the color or vitality that's been missing since Goblet of Fire back to the franchise.

Goblet of Fire... the fun silly movie where Harry is tortured, Cedric is murdered in cold blood, and the other wizard Hitler rises from the dead! Harry Potter has always had dark and brooding elements. The dementors are the stuff of nightmares, Ginny has her mind dominated by Voldemort at age 11, and the connection of Grindelwald to WW2 is in the very first book.

I took the "since" to have been used in the inclusive sense meaning The Goblet of Fire AND all subsequent films.

Actually, The Prisoner of Askaban already took steps in that direction with the desaturation and the change to a silver logo instead of the gold one used for the first two films.

 

[bryce]

Eh, I like the movies. I think it's because I identify with Newt. I'm socially awkward, and prefer animals to people. And I really *love* animals and love caring for them and get upset when I see them mistreated...and people think I'm odd for liking animals so much.

But I do think that the films still need a little...something.

Maybe it's because there are no books and I'm not quite familiar with and invested in the characters in Beast as I was in Potter. But then again, with no books, everything is a surprise.

I think a little more humor wand levity from time to time would be nice.

 

[Saul]

Johnny Depp has been asked to resign from the franchise.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/ne...ntastic-beasts-e2-80-99-franchise/ar-BB1aLwm0

I have been asked to resign by Warner Bros. from my role as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts and I have respected and agreed to that request.”

Wonder if they will bring Colin Farrell back.

 

[valkyrie013]

Well.. That blows.. Johnny was great in it.. Owell.
As for my opinion of the Whole Heard/Depp thing.. It was a shitshow all around with no one innocent. Just move on.

 

[Nightowl1701]

Depp’s finished. His career is over.

 

[Gaith]

 

[JD]

I wonder they decided that having both him and JK Rowling around was to much controversy for one franchise?
It just seems a little weird to me they would wait this long to get rid of him, when the accusations have been flying around since before they even filmed the first movie.

 

[Ovation]

I wonder they decided that having both him and JK Rowling around was to much controversy for one franchise?
It just seems a little weird to me they would wait this long to get rid of him, when the accusations have been flying around since before they even filmed the first movie.

Helps to have a legal verdict to make the “request” more compelling.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

About damn time. He shouldn't have been cast in the first place.

Now they just need to get rid of J.K. Rowling as the script writer and-

Oh. Right. That's never going to happen.

 

[kirk55555]

About damn time. He shouldn't have been cast in the first place.

Now they just need to get rid of J.K. Rowling as the script writer and-

Oh. Right. That's never going to happen.

Yeah. As nice as it is to be rid of Depp, Rowling will never be removed from the film's, or the franchise in general. Honestly, even if I felt like the last movie was decent I'd be done with the series, the fact that I didn't like the last movie or the first one very much just makes it easier (not that it's particularly difficult to abandon the franchise after what's been revealed about Rowling).

 

[Gaith]

If FB3 underperforms, it'll be easy to picture WB ordering a fourth and final movie rather than sticking with the five-movie plan...

 

[StCoop]

About damn time. He shouldn't have been cast in the first place.

Now they just need to get rid of J.K. Rowling as the script writer and-

Oh. Right. That's never going to happen.

And don't forget about Ezra choke-your-fans Miller.

I suppose the one good thing you could say about Rowling is that she doesn't just hate trans women, she hates all woman equally...

 

[Saul]

If FB3 underperforms, it'll be easy to picture WB ordering a fourth and final movie rather than sticking with the five-movie plan...

And originally it was supposed to be just 3 movies right? I think it's time to go back to the original plan. Everything is going against this franchise. The controversy surrounding it and it's been fairly boring overall.

 

[Owain Taggart]

About damn time. He shouldn't have been cast in the first place.

I always felt he was an odd choice. Particularly in the case that he must have been expensive to get, then didn't end up being used up all that much in a movie with his character's name in the title. I think he looked Ok for the part, but he was so underused.

 

[FormerLurker]

The reason Depp was even in the second film was because he was stunt-cast as Grindelwald at the end of the first one. And I have never had a problem with him.

I think the UK judge may have been prejudiced against him for some reason. Amber Heard may have made a case, but the fact is, Depp is the one that came out of their relationship with a missing bodypart (a fingertip). That makes a compelling case against her.

 

[StCoop]

I think the UK judge may have been prejudiced against him for some reason. Amber Heard may have made a case, but the fact is, Depp is the one that came out of their relationship with a missing bodypart (a fingertip). That makes a compelling case against her.

Yeah, those bitches are always asking for it, right? Jesus.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

If FB3 underperforms, it'll be easy to picture WB ordering a fourth and final movie rather than sticking with the five-movie plan...

Very much agreed. I've wondered if the delay on the third film, though in part due to Waterston's pregnancy, was to reconfigure and streamline the plans for the next three films into two. Or even one.

 

[Reverend]

Good riddance. Even without the by no means minor detail that he's a domestic abuser, his shtick got old even before the Pirates movies fizzled out.

Not that I think the casting would have made Grindlewald any less of a tedious, forgettable slog of a movie, but Colin Farrell's performance in the first one was far and away more engaging, and I'd always thought they'd have been better served just sticking with him from the get-go.