Johnny Depp will still be paid full salary for 'Fantastic Beasts 3'

Hollywood mega-star Johnny Depp is expected to be paid millions for Fantastic Beasts 3, even after being asked to leave the franchise last week, reported Independent. 

The Pirates of the Caribbean star will be paid at least $10mn or £7.6 mn after filming just one scene for the film that went on floors in September. The role is now being recast, Variety reported earlier.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Depp had signed a ‘pay-or-play contract’ with the producers, which meant that he be fully compensated whether the film is made or not and even if the role is recast. Talk about a smart move!

Depp, 57, who portrayed the dark-wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the franchise, announced on his Instagram on November 7 that he had been asked by Warner Bros. to resign from his role. “I have respected and agreed to that request,” he said.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star had sued the publishers of the Sun newspaper after it said he had been violent toward former wife Amber Heard, 34. The newspaper also questioned his casting in the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

The three-week libel trial in July heard evidence from both Depp and Heard about a tempestuous marriage marked by violence on both sides and of heavy drinking by Depp. The judge on Monday ruled against Depp.

He plans to appeal the London libel judgment and wrote that his “life and career will not be defined by this moment.”