JUDE LAW has been tapped to play a young Dumbledore in the Warner Bros. sequel to “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

    David Yates is directing the follow-up to last year’s “Harry Potter” spinoff, which is slated to hit theaters Nov. 16, 2018.

    The first film’s central foursome — Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol and Dan Fogler — are also all set to return for the sequel, featuring a script by J.K. Rowling. Unlike the initial movie’s New York City setting, the follow-up takes place in Paris and Watford, England.

    Law’s casting puts him opposite Johnny Depp, who was revealed to be the infamous wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the first film. Dumbledore and Grindelwald were friends when they were teens, but grew apart after Dumbledore suffered a devastating family loss. Grindelwald then grew into one of the most powerful dark wizards in history.

    “Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald, and that added to his horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was,” Rowling has said. In the sequel, “you will see Dumbledore as a younger man and quite a troubled man. We’ll see him at that formative period of his life.”

    The first “Fantastic Beasts” movie — which kicked off a five-film spinoff series — grossed US$813 million at the box office in 2016. Rowling, David Heyman, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram are producing the second film, with Neil Blair, Rick Senat and Danny Cohen as executive producers.

    Law is next set to appear in Guy Ritchie’s “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” and Brady Corbet’s musical drama “Vox Lux.”(SD-Agencies)