Jude Law to play Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts 2
It looks like Law versus Depp in a magical Hollywood face-off
Jude Law is to don the wizarding robes of Albus Dumbledore in the sequel to JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Law will play the younger Dumbledore, decades before he became the headmaster of Hogwarts that Harry Potter fans know and love, while he is still the school's Professor of Transfiguration.
The announcement puts paid to a fan campaign to have Mad Men and The Crown's Jared Harris play the role and will see Law step into the shoes of Michael Gambon and original Dumbledore Richard Harris.
Set after the events of the first Fantastic Beasts film in the 1920s, the second instalment is likely to see Dumbledore join Eddie Redmayne's magizoologist Newt Scamander in a clash with Gellert Grindelwald, the dark wizard played by Johnny Depp, who appeared for just a few minutes towards the end of the movie.
According to a release from Warner Bros, the new film – which is also written by JK Rowling and begins shooting in the summer – "moves deeper into an increasingly dark time for the wizarding world, where Newt Scamander and our other heroes have to decide on their allegiances".
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Director David Yates said “Jude Law is a phenomenally talented actor whose work I have long admired, and I’m looking forward to finally having the opportunity to work with him. I know he will brilliantly capture all the unexpected facets of Albus Dumbledore as JK Rowling reveals this very different time in his life.”
