Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
About the Film
In 1927, only months after his capture, the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald makes a spectacular escape from magical custody and sets about gathering followers to his cause: the rise of pure-blood wizards to rule over the non-magical world. To realise his vision he needs the troubled, immensely powerful young Credence Barebone, whose true parentage has become the key to everything.
Unable to move against his former friend directly, Albus Dumbledore turns to his ex-student Newt Scamander, sending him to Paris to find Credence first. There, old friends and new enemies collide as Grindelwald’s seductive rhetoric splits loyalties and lures even the good-hearted toward him — building to a fiery rally where the wizard reveals a shattering secret about Credence’s identity and draws the battle lines for the war to come.
Plot synopsis by johnny-depp.org.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp plays Gellert Grindelwald, the charismatic and dangerous dark wizard at the heart of the Wizarding World’s darkest chapter. With bleached-blond hair, a scarred lip and mismatched eyes — a detail Depp suggested to suggest a man who is “two people” — he plays Grindelwald not as a ranting villain but as a soft-spoken, persuasive ideologue whose calm reasonableness makes his fanaticism all the more chilling.
Cast & Crew
Cast
Newt ScamanderEddie Redmayne
Gellert GrindelwaldJohnny Depp
Albus DumbledoreJude Law
Tina GoldsteinKatherine Waterston
Jacob KowalskiDan Fogler
Queenie GoldsteinAlison Sudol
Credence BareboneEzra Miller
Leta LestrangeZoë Kravitz
Theseus ScamanderCallum Turner
Crew
DirectorDavid Yates
ScreenplayJ.K. Rowling
MusicJames Newton Howard
CinematographyPhilippe Rousselot
ProducersDavid Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves, Lionel Wigram
StudioWarner Bros. Pictures / Heyday Films
Filming Locations
- Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, Hertfordshire, England (a large section of 1920s Paris was built here)
- London, England
- Paris, France
- Switzerland
More about this film
Trivia
- Depp suggested giving Grindelwald heterochromia — one dark eye and one pale — to hint that he is “two people.”
- Jude Law was cast as the young Albus Dumbledore over contenders including Christian Bale and Benedict Cumberbatch.
- A large stretch of 1920s Paris, including its streets and rooftops, was constructed on the Leavesden backlot.
- It was J.K. Rowling’s second produced screenplay, following the first Fantastic Beasts film.
Awards
- 2019 BAFTA Award — Best Production Design, nominated
- 2019 BAFTA Award — Best Special Visual Effects, nominated
