Warner Bros dropped its Grindelwald four days after a judge called him a wife beater

Johnny Depp had played the villain Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts series since 2016, the centrepiece of a planned five-film franchise. On 2 November 2020 the UK High Court ruled against him in his libel case against The Sun, finding the paper's 'wife beater' claim substantially true — 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence had occurred.

Four days later Warner Bros asked him to resign from the role, and he agreed, saying he had 'respected and agreed to that request'. The studio thanked him for his work and said the part would be recast; the third film had not yet begun filming, so no footage was lost.

The franchise never recovered. The Secrets of Dumbledore, released in April 2022 with a new actor in the role, opened to the series' lowest box-office and became the lowest-grossing Wizarding World film. By November 2022 Warner Bros had no script for a fourth or fifth film in development, and in October 2023 director David Yates said the series was 'parked'.