10 Upcoming Movies That Might Already Be Doomed
9. Fantastic Beasts 3
The currently-untitled third Fantastic Beasts film has been faced with setback after setback. It all began, of course, when the second film, The Crimes of Grindelwald, was a critical and commercial disappointment back in 2018.
Warner Bros. was nevertheless determined to forge ahead with the third entry in the planned five-film franchise, though the fraught personal life of star Johnny Depp - namely losing a high-profile defamation lawsuit related to domestic abuse - caused him to be fired after shooting just a single scene.
Depp was quickly replaced with Mads Mikkelsen, though the studio was ultimately obliged to pay Depp his entire salary, estimated to be anywhere from $10-16 million.
Then there's the significant controversy surrounding creator-writer J.K. Rowling, whose comments on the transgender community have been characterised as transphobic, prompting numerous Harry Potter actors and even Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne himself to criticise her remarks.
On top of this, general interest in the franchise seems to have evaporated after some of the more outlandish revelations in The Crimes of Grindelwald.
As much as audiences are hankering for glossy blockbusters right now, it's extremely difficult to imagine a scenario where Fantastic Beasts 3 ends up delivering the commercial result Warner Bros. is hoping for.
With rumours swirling that the film will have a more concrete, closed-off ending in case it bombs and kills the franchise outright, there's understandably shaky confidence in the IP's long-term future.