With just under a month to go until Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hits cinemas, there’s been a huge casting announcement made about the scheduled sequel, with Johnny Depp set to take a role.

According to a report by Deadline on Tuesday (November 1st), Depp will be joining the Warner Bros. production alongside established cast members Eddie Redmayne, Zoe Kravitz and Katherine Waterston when the sequel hits cinemas in 2018.

Johnny DeppJohnny Depp is to take on a role in the 'Fantastic Beasts' sequel

Although details of what role he might play remain under wraps – indeed, Warner Bros. have revealed nothing of the sequel’s plot at all – the report also hinted that eagle-eyed viewers might be able to spot Depp in a brief cameo role when the first instalment is released on November 18th.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is one of 2016’s most highly anticipated films, a spin-off of the Harry Potter franchise and concerning the adventures of writer and ‘magizoologist’ Newt Scamander (Redmayne) in New York’s underground community of wizards, set 70 years before young Potter reads his textbook in Hogwarts.

More: JK Rowling reveals plans for FOUR more ‘Fantastic Beasts…’ movies

Furthermore, author and screenwriter J.K. Rowling revealed last month at an IMAX fan event that she and the studio were planning a total of four sequels.

53 year old Depp, meanwhile, is continuing work on his most successful film franchise to date, the fifth instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean, entitled Dead Men Tell No Tales, due for release in May 2017.

He was recently seen reprising his role as The Mad Hatter in Alice Through the Looking Glass, released this summer, and made headlines at the same time because of his messy divorce from his wife of just 15 months, Amber Heard.

More: Paul McCartney set to make cameo appearance in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’