Depp to get 'Spaceyd'?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-8907433/ALISON-BOSHOFF-reputation-wrecked-Johnny-Depp-condemned-walk-plank-Hollywood.html

However, J.K. Rowling, who cast him as Gellert Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts films in 2018, a move which prompted The Sun’s article in the first place, was remaining silent yesterday.

She defended him after there were protests about his casting in the film, saying: ‘Based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies.’

Irony is now heaped upon irony as Rowling, herself a victim of domestic abuse during her first marriage, sees her latest film potentially derailed because she chose to believe a man who has been judged guilty of just that.

Also in a tricky position is Warner Bros, which is making the third instalment of Fantastic Beasts, mostly in Leavesden, Herts, with a budget of around £140 million.

They have stuck with the film because of the enormous success of the Harry Potter movies, which brought in billions, and which everyone hoped could be repeated. Any association with Depp, however, could put that in jeopardy.

Media lawyer Mark Stephens says: ‘There seems to be a fond hope he can still complete filming, but I am quite sure his employers are looking to see if they have a morality clause to allow them to eradicate him from any films which have not been released yet.

‘That’s what happened with Kevin Spacey and he didn’t come to court.’ (The actor was ‘erased’ from projects, including House Of Cards, after he was accused by numerous young men of propositioning and sexually assaulting them; all charges were dropped.)

Stephens adds: ‘Here, the judge has picked apart the evidence and found that Amber Heard was telling the truth and Depp was not. He is going to find he is not acceptable in the modern world.’

Stephens went on: ‘His best way out of this is not to fight on as his lawyers suggest. The only way would be to accept that he has problems in terms of drugs, alcohol and violence, and go to rehab and show remorse for what he has done, to seek help for his demons and to apologise.

‘If he does that, Hollywood will want to take him back. He makes himself unacceptable for as long as he remains in denial.’

Depp’s downfall comes at a time when Hollywood is less likely to forgive than was once the case.

Titans have fallen — Harvey Weinstein the most prominent among them. The man once thought of as a movie-making God is now broke, shamed and imprisoned.

At the moment, Warner Bros is saying nothing, in public at least.

I’m told that filming of Fantastic Beasts, which started in September, is too far advanced for Depp to be removed without necessitating months of reshoots.

The problem is that the rest of the cast, such as Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law, may not be available for that — everyone is expecting the movie to wrap in late January or early February.

However, several sources speak of a serious case of nerves from the studio. And after Fantastic Beasts, Depp can hardly expect to work any time soon, at least not as a leading man in a movie of any significance.

One film he made before the case, Minamata, has just landed a distribution deal with MGM. Another, Waiting For The Barbarians, was released on streaming platforms this summer.

Disney are working on a sixth instalment of the hugely lucrative Pirates Of The Caribbean series, but no script has yet been approved according to producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Would the storyline include a role for Captain Jack Sparrow? Surely the answer is no. The five Pirates films made more than $4.5 billion — they simply don’t need Depp to carry on blockbusting