Jude Law To Play Young Dumbledore In Fantastic Beasts Sequel

Jude Law is stepping into the wizarding world of Harry Potter to portray a young Professor Albus Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them sequel.

The Talented Mr. Ripley star will take over the role previously played onscreen in the original Harry Potter movie franchise by the late Richard Harris and Michael Gambon for the spin-off series, which is set decades before author J.K. Rowling's boy wizard stories.

In the Fantastic Beasts follow-up, fans will learn about Dumbledore's background before he became the Hogwarts headmaster, when he was a rival of villain Gellert Grindelwald, set to be brought to life by Johnny Depp.

Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Pictures, shared the casting news with fans on Wednesday (12Apr17).

"As fans ourselves, we are thrilled to have Jude Law joining the 'Fantastic Beasts' cast, playing a character so universally adored," he said. "Jude has been a member of the Warner Bros. family for years and we're excited to embark on this new adventure with him."

Director David Yates added, "Jude Law is a phenomenally talented actor whose work I have long admired, and I'm looking forward to finally having the opportunity to work with him. 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."

The news of Jude's involvement emerges five months after Yates admitted he was eager to have former Mad Men star Jared Harris - son of acting icon Richard - cast as the young Dumbledore in the next Fantastic Beasts movie.

The filmmaker has yet to comment on the change in casting direction, but the new role will reunite Jude with Depp, who he worked with on 2009's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne will return as Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts sequel, which is due to hit cinemas in November, 2018.