We’re raising a Butter Beer to this exciting news.
Jude Law, 44, is set to take on the role of a young Dumbledore in the sequel to Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.
A statement released on Pottermore announced that the two-time Academy Award winner will portray Dumbledore “decades before he became Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry”.
Jude will star alongside Johnny Depp, who plays Dumbledore’s close friend-turned-villain Gellert Grindelwald.
Eddie Redmayne will reprise his role as Newt Scamander and David Yates is back on board to direct the sequel.
“Jude Law is a phenomenally talented actor whose work I’ve long admired and I’m looking forward to finally having the opportunity to work with him,” David said.
“I know he will brilliantly capture all the unexpected facets of Albus Dumbledore as J.K. Rowling reveals this very different time in his life.”
We caught a very brief glimpse of Johnny as Grindelwald in the final moments of the first film in the series, but we can expect to see a lot more of him in the sequel as the story takes a darker turn.
According to Pottermore, the second instalment of Fantastic Beasts “takes the story deeper into an increasingly dark time for the wizarding world, where Newt and our other heroes must decide on their allegiances”.
It’s not the first time Jude and Johnny have worked together.
In The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, Jude, Johnny and Colin Farrell – who also starred in the original Fantastic Beasts movie – all played the same character.
Jude currently stars in the HBO series The Young Pope.
At this stage, it has been confirmed that there will be five films in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Filming will being later this year for a November 2018 release.
J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for the first movie and is currently working on the script for the second.
