From "The Young Pope" to The Young Dumbledore, Jude Law is on a hot streak ... that's especially impressive since he's 44, which you could argue is not that young.

Jude Law has officially been cast as the younger Albus Dumbledore in the second "Fantastic Beasts" movie, Warner Bros. announced today. We'll see this Dumbledore in the years before he became Hogwarts headmaster, but while he is still the Transfiguration professor.

In this role, Jude Law should be squaring off against Johnny Depp's Gellert Grindelwald, which should make for an interesting match.Director David Yates offered a statement on the casting:

"Jude Law is a phenomenally talented actor whose work I have long admired, and I'm looking forward to finally having the opportunity to work with him. I know he will brilliantly capture all the unexpected facets of Albus Dumbledore as J.K. Rowling reveals this very different time in his life."

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling's script for this next movie will reportedly "move deeper into an increasingly dark time for the wizarding world, where Newt Scamander and our other heroes have to decide on their allegiances."

Principal photography is scheduled to start this summer, for a planned release date of November 16, 2018. The sequel will star Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, and Zoe Kravitz, in addition to Law and Depp. There are five "Fantastic Beasts" movies planned at this point, so this is just No. 2.

Jude Law will be the fourth actor to portray Albus Dumbledore, after the late Richard Harris and Michael Gambon played the headmaster in Warner Bros.'s "Harry Potter" film franchise, and Toby Regbo played the very young Dumbledore in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1."

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