“Fantastic Beasts” sequel casting young Albus Dumbledore

PanARMENIAN.Net - Albus Dumbledore has been confirmed to appear in the sequel to the upcoming "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". Speaking to Screen Rant during the press junket of the first movie, director David Yates revealed that casting for the role of the young version of Hogwarts' headmaster is underway, AceShowbiz said.

"In the second movie Dumbledore comes back," the helmer said, adding that Dumbledore, who was played by Richard Harris and Michael Gambon in the "Harry Potter" movie series, and Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander would have several good scenes together. "He's got a couple of good scenes with Newt... We're discussing who would play Dumbledore, any suggestions would be good. [Laughs]"

J.K. Rowling previously said that the story of Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald in their young ages would be explored in the movie series. However, the British author of the "Harry Potter" novels didn't elaborate to what extent the two powerful wizards would be involved in the sequels.

It was recently reported that Johnny Depp joined the cast of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2". Since details about his role in the sequel are being kept under tight wraps, fans have speculated that the Jack Sparrow of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie franchise will play the notorious dark wizard, Grindelwald.

Depp was also confirmed to make a cameo appearance in the first movie. Talking about Depp's secret role, the lead actor, Redmayne, dished on how he and his co-stars were able to "zip their lips for a long time" about Depp's involvement.

"Wait, Johnny Depp is in this movie? We know nothing. We can reveal nothing," Redmayne joked to E! Online. "One of the wonderful things about making this film was the story that J.K. Rowling had written and the surprises and secrecy for it."

The 34-year-old actor added, "I know in the age of social media, it's impossible to keep those secrets but if there's any way we can keep some of them secret, it would be so lovely to do."

Co-star Alison Sudol also confessed, "We didn't have to keep it for that long because we only found out shortly before it was released publicly, luckily, and we've had to keep so many secrets at this point that we basically are used to having to be vaults." Colin Farrell added, "I didn't know until very late so I didn't feel like I had to keep [it a secret]."

The first "Fantastic Beasts" movie is coming to U.S. theaters on November 18. It's supported by Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller and Dan Fogler. The second and third movies will arrive on November 16, 2018 and November 20, 2020 respectively.