‘Happy Depp’s in Fantastic Beasts sequel’
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has defended the decision to cast Johnny Depp in the next Fantastic Beasts movie, after a backlash from fans unhappy about the circumstances of the actor’s recent divorce. In a statement on her personal website, Rowling said filmmakers had considered recasting the role of villain Gellert Grindelwald for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the sequel to 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. But she said the circumstances of Depp’s divorce from actor Amber Heard last year were private and should be respected.
The Warner Bros movie, due to be released in November 2018, is the second of a planned five movie spinoff franchise from the blockbuster Harry Potter films. “Harry Potter fans had legitimate questions and concerns about our choice to continue with Depp in the role,” Rowling wrote.
“The agreements that have been put in place to protect the privacy of two people, both of whom have expressed a desire to get on with their lives, must be respected. 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.”
Depp’s marriage to Heard ended in divorce amid her allegations of domestic abuse. After reaching a settlement in 2016, they issued a statement saying their relationship was “passionate and at times volatile but always bound by love”.
A spectacular send-off for Hallyday
Fans of the French rocker Johnny Hallyday were given a chance to say a final adieu to their hero with a “people’s tribute” in Paris. With all the showbiz theatrics for which his live concerts were legendary, the body of France’s answer to Elvis Presley was driven slowly down the Champs Elysées from the Arc de Triomphe, accompanied by his band playing some of his best-known hits.
Thousands of devotees of the man described by President Emmanuel Macron as a “national hero” lined the route as the funeral cortege made its way to Place de la Concorde. It then proceeded to the grand Madeleine church where Macron made a “brief address” before a special mass.
The Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, announced that the Eiffel Tower and a concert hall on the right bank of the river Seine would be lit up on the eve of the funeral with the message “Merci Johnny” until Sunday. The Duroc station on the metro, named after an 18th-century empire general and aide de camp to Napoléon Bonaparte, has already been renamed DuRock Johnny.
A wave of national mourning has descended on France following the death of Hallyday, 74, a few days ago at his luxury home in a Paris suburb. The star, a lifelong smoker of filterless Gitanes, had been treated for lung cancer for several months, but had been planning to release another album — his 80th — next year.
Star Wars tribute to Carrie Fisher
The latest — and many ecstatic fans are saying the best — dispatch from a galaxy far, far away has opened with a poignant tribute to its lost princess Carrie Fisher, who died last year soon after finishing filming her final appearance as leia.
Speaking in lA, Rian Johnson, the writer and director of the film, said: “let’s all have a blast tonight for Carrie.” He was introducing the world premiere of the latest outing for one of the most successful movie franchises.
Star Wars: The last Jedi, predicted to be the box-office smash of the Christmas period, ends with a dedication to Fisher, who created the role of Princess leia in 1977. “She has no friends, no family, her planet was blown up in seconds, along with her hairdresser,” Fisher once said of leia’s distinctive hairstyle.
She died of a heart attack in December 2016, having finished all the filming and most of the sound recording for The last Jedi, in which her character has a central role.
Johnson said: “I want to dedicate tonight to Carrie, who is up there right now flipping me the bird, saying ‘Damn it Rian, don’t you dare make this night a solemn tribute’.”