2022 film by David Yates
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is a 2022 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by J. K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, based on characters by Rowling. The sequel to Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), it is the third and final instalment in the Fantastic Beasts film series and the eleventh overall in the Wizarding World franchise. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams, Katherine Waterston, and Mads Mikkelsen. Set five years after the events of The Crimes of Grindelwald, it sees Albus Dumbledore tasking Newt Scamander and his allies with a mission that takes them into the heart of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald's army.
The film was slated for release in November 2021, before it was pushed back to April 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of the main cast from the first two films confirmed their involvement in March 2020. Principal photography was set to begin in early 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic, eventually commencing in September 2020. Johnny Depp returned as Grindelwald and filmed one scene for the film, but was asked to step down in November 2020 following the verdict of the Depp v News Group Newspapers Ltd court case; Mads Mikkelsen replaced him later that month. Filming wrapped in February 2021.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore premiered at the Royal Festival Hall in London on March 29, 2022, and was released internationally on April 14 and in the United States on April 15, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $407 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing film in the Wizarding World franchise. The Secrets of Dumbledore was the last film in the Wizarding World franchise for which Stuart Craig served as production designer before his death in 2025.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.