Credit: Warner Bros.
David Sakurai is joining the cast of the “Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them” sequel at Warner Bros. Pictures. to star as the villain alongside Johnny Depp. The Danish-Japanese actor who appeared in Marvel’s Iron Fist will play the role of Krall, an ambitious and sulky henchman of the film’s main villain Gellert Grindelwald who is played by Depp in the franchise.
The film opens in 1927 with Grindelwald having made a dramatic escape and gathering more followers to his cause. The only one who might be able to stop him is the wizard he once called his dearest friend, Albus Dumbledore played by Jude Law. But Dumbledore will need help from the wizard who had thwarted Grindelwald once before, his former student Newt Scamander played by Eddie Redmayne.
Sakurai was most recently seen in Marvel’s Iron Fist on Netflix as the sickle-swinging assassin Scythe. He was also a recurring player on the streaming giant’s Nordic gangster dramedy Lilyhammer.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them stars Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Colin Farrell, Jenn Murray, Jon Voight, Carmen Ejogo, Gemma Chan and newcomer Faith Wood-Blagrove.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is being produced by David Heyman, producer of all eight of the blockbuster Harry Potter features; J.K. Rowling; Steve Kloves, who scripted all but one of the Harry Potter films; and Lionel Wigram, who served as an executive producer on the last four installments of the franchise. Rowling herself is supplying the screenplay.
A full synopsis, which was released over the summer, hints at connections between the film and the wider Harry Potter universe:
JK Rowling wrote the screenplay for the film, which opens in 1927, a few months after Newt helped to unveil and capture the infamous Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald.However, as he promised he would, Grindelwald has made a dramatic escape and has been gathering more followers to his cause—elevating wizards above all non-magical beings. The only one who might be able to stop him is the wizard he once called his dearest friend, Albus Dumbledore.But Dumbledore will need help from the wizard who had thwarted Grindelwald once before, his former student Newt Scamander.The adventure reunites Newt with Tina, Queenie and Jacob, but his mission will also test their loyalties as they face new perils in an increasingly dangerous and divided wizarding world.
Fantastic Beasts 2 will arrive in cinemas on November 16, 2018.
What do you think of the casting of Sakurai as a villain in the Fantastic Beasts sequel? What did you think of the first film compared to the Harry Potter franchise? Let us know in the comments section.