Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Michael Gambon (who played the role in six of the "Harry Potter" films). A number of other actors were considered, including Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, and Jared Harris (son of Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the first two "Harry Potter" films). The film is set in the United Kingdom and Paris. Principal photography began on 3 July 2017, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden. On 22 September 2017, David Sakurai was cast to play Krall, one of the ambitious and sulky henchman of Grindelwald. Law reportedly finished filming his scenes as Dumbledore in September 2017. On 5 October
Harry Potter (film series) was chosen to direct the film, but he declined to direct the next film, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", which was given to David Yates, who also directed "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", becoming the only director to helm more than one film since Chris Columbus. Chris Columbus said his vision of the first two films was of a "golden storybook, an old-fashioned look", while Alfonso Cuarón changed the visual tone of the series, desaturated the colour palette, and expanded the landscape around Hogwarts. Mike Newell decided to direct