Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them star Eddie Redmayne confessed to stealing one major prop from the Harry Potter prequel film.
At the Academy Museum Gala, Redmayne spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about what props he swiped from film sets. In addition to keeping a clicker from The Theory of Everything, the 40-year-old actor recently took Newt Scamander's briefcase from Fantastic Beasts. Newt uses the briefcase to store various magical creatures throughout the Harry Potter spinoff films. The Les Misérables actor continued by pleading with viewers to "tell no one." Yet, Redmayne's co-star in The Good Nurse, Jessica Chastain, joked about his confession to theft being recorded.
Released in 2016, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them follows the 1920s exploits of a British magizoologist named Newt Scamander after his arrival in New York City. Disaster ensues when Newt accidentally swaps briefcases with a Muggle named Jacob Kowalski after a Niffler breaks free. While the Director of Magical Security, Percival Graves, wrongfully accuses Newt of killing Senator Henry Shaw Jr., the real culprit is eventually uncovered.
Redmayne returned to play Newt in the 2018 sequel The Crimes of Grindelwald. Other cast members included Zoë Kravitz as Leta Lestrange, Ezra Miller in a role reprisal as Credence Barebone and Johnny Depp as the powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. However, Depp did not return to reprise his role in The Secrets of Dumbledore following the domestic violence controversy surrounding his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Due to Depp's absence, the casting team hired Hannibal and Rogue One actor Mads Mikkelsen to play Grindelwald. Despite the Edward Scissorhands star's infamous past, Mikkelsen hopes Depp will return in a future Fantastic Beasts film. "Obviously, well, now the course has changed—he won the suit, the court [case]—so let’s see if he comes back. He might," hinted Mikkelsen.
Fantastic Beasts' Uncertain Future
After its underwhelming premiere at the box office, Secrets of Dumbledore became the lowest-grossing film of the Wizarding World franchise. Despite being ordered as a five-film saga, Warner Bros. has not confirmed a fourth installment in the Fantastic Beasts series. As of April 2022, there is no screenplay planned for Fantastic Beasts 4 since Warner Bros. was "waiting to see how The Secrets of Dumbledore was received before giving films four and five the greenlight." Thus, it's unclear who may return for another Fantastic Beasts film.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: Twitter