Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets began less magically on its first weekend in theaters in the United States and Canada. The studio estimated on Sunday that the third installment of the Harry Potter spin-off was worth $ 43 million in North America.
That was enough to give the film a top spot in the box office charts, but it’s also low for the franchise. The first film debuted at $ 74.4 million in 2016, and the second, The Grindelwald Crimes, grossed $ 62.2 million in 2018. Dumbledore’s Secrets by Warner Bros. launched at 4,208 locations in North America, also carries a $ 200 million production cost.
It is more common for sequels and tricycles to come lower than their predecessors, but Dumbledore also follows several franchise titles that oppose this logic, including “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Venom 2” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.”
Critics were largely absent from Dumbledore. With a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, most are on the downside. AP screenwriter Jake Coyle wrote in his review that “the purpose of these films has never felt much beyond keeping Potter’s train running” and that the rerun is “a little boring.” The audience, which was 56% female, was a little nicer, giving it four stars on PostTrak and a total of B + CinemaScore.
The eight Harry Potter films were responsible for more than $ 7.7 billion at the box office, while the first two “Fantastic Beasts” made a total of $ 1.5 billion.
This part features Eddie Redmain, Jude Law, Ezra Miller and Mads Mikkelsen, who replaced Johnny Depp as Grindelwald. In November 2020, after Depp’s failed defamation lawsuit against the tabloid The Sun for an article calling him a “women’s fighter,” the actor said Warner Bros. asked him to retire and that he agreed.
However, as in previous Fantastic Beast films, Dumbledore has more hope internationally. Its gross revenue is $ 193 million worldwide. Both previous films have made over 70% of their global screenings from international screenings.
“Restoring the original Harry Potter magic, which began about 20 years ago in theaters, is a difficult task,” said Paul Dergarabedyan, a senior media analyst at Comscore. “The Fantastic Beasts franchise, while seeing a declining return with each episode, still has enough dedicated fans to attract a respectable number, especially among the international audience, which has always provided the lion’s share of the box office for these films.”
Dergarabedyan added that the real test for Dumbledore will be the second weekend.
In addition, as Jeff Goldstein, head of internal distribution at Warner Bros., pointed out, films are only part of the world of wizards.
“It’s part of a bigger strategy for Wizarding World, a bigger business that includes theme parks and shops and merchandising. It’s all about the totality of these songs, not just one, “Goldstein said. “There’s still a lot of public interest and a lot of fan interest.”
In addition, Warner Bros. celebrates a major event for another film: “Batman” went $ 750 million worldwide this weekend.
“It’s a huge achievement,” Goldstein said.
In its second weekend, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 fell 58 percent to about $ 30 million to take second place, according to Paramount. The film has grossed $ 119.6 million so far. Third place also went to Paramount with the action-adventure “Lost City” starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum.
Sony also released “Father Stu” at 2,705 seats on Wednesday. Starring Mark Wahlberg, who helped fund the film, “Father Stu” is based on a true story and is a rare mass Hollywood film with religious themes. He earned approximately $ 8 million in his first five days in theaters and $ 5.7 million over the weekend.
“Father Stu” came in fifth place after “Everything Everywhere All At One”, the hit of the A24, which is getting bigger. This weekend, the lively interdimensional film starring Michelle Yeo was released on 2,220 screens – its widest edition to date – and grossed an additional $ 6.2 million. His total gross income is $ 17.7 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday in theaters in the United States and Canada, according to Comscore. The final internal data will be published on Monday.
1. “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets”, $ 43 million.
2. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”, $ 30 million.
3. The Lost City, $ 6.5 million.
4. “Everything everywhere and at once”, $ 6.2 million.
5. “Father Stu”, $ 5.7 million.
6. Morbius, $ 4.7 million.
7. Ambulance, $ 4 million.
8. The Batman, $ 3.8 million.
9. KGF: Chapter 2, $ 2.9 million.
10. “Unexplored”, $ 1.2 million.
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Follow AP filmwriter Lindsay Bar on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr
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