‘Fantastic Beasts’: How Scandal and Controversy Have Derailed the Wizarding Franchise

Refresh for latest…: On a weekend we could term “the calm before the Strange,” there was nevertheless sustained holdover business at the international box office, and a new entry in the form of Universal/Focus’ Downton Abbey: A New Era.

Naman Ramachandran It was a three way battle at the U.K. and Ireland the past weekend with Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” edging past Warner Bros.’ “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore” and another Paramount release “The Lost City” to top the box office.In its fourth weekend, “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” moved up from third place the previous week to claim the top spot with £1.63 million ($2 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.

J. Kim Murphy In a crowded weekend at the domestic box office that includes northmen and fantastic beasts and Nicolas Cage — oh my! — “The Bad Guys” has risen above the competition.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterNicolas Cage is back… not that he went anywhere.The actor’s latest movie “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” a meta comedy in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself, is one of several films opening nationwide over the weekend. It’ll compete against director Robert Eggers’ Viking epic “The Northman” and Universal and DreamWorks’ animated family film “The Bad Guys,” as well as last weekend’s champion “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”Unless ticket sales crash in week two, “The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the third chapter in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series, should retain the domestic box office crown.

Fantastic Beasts franchise.The actor is now playing Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore after Depp was asked to leave the franchise by Warner Bros in 2020.Depp lost his libel case against The Sun in November 2020, which was launched after the newspaper described the actor as a “wife-beater” in relation to allegations from his ex-wife Amber Heard, claims Depp has strongly denied.Depp later addressed the Fantastic Beasts situation on his Instagram account in a statement responding to “recent events”, explaining why he was leaving the franchise.In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mikkelsen has now recalled how he was given just two days by producers to make a decision on playing Grindelwald.“It was quite chaotic,” Mikkelsen said of that period, during which he watched the first two films and read the script for Secrets, which he said was “a great story”.“You don’t want to copy anything [Depp was] doing — that would be creative suicide,” the actor added. “Even if [a role has] been done to perfection, you want to make it your own.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is not performing like most of the entries into the Harry Potter cinematic universe.

Refresh for latest…: It’s no secret that Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore had a less than magical opening domestically this weekend, coming after early overseas rollout began last frame. Still, offshore this weekend, the threequel was again the top movie and ranked No. 1 in 52 markets, including 41 of the 44 new openers. The overseas sophomore frame added $71.7M for a cume of $150.4M, bringing global just shy of $200M at $193.4M. In like-for-likes Dumbledore is running 38% behind the previous installment and 42% off the original.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” welcomed a boost in ticket sales at the international box office, though the third installment in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series already seems to be running out of steam.Over the weekend, “Fantastic Beasts 3” added $71.7 million from 66 foreign markets, taking the film’s international tally to $150.4 million. After debuting to a less-than-enchanting $43 million in North America, “The Secrets of Dumbledore” has collected $193.4 million to date.Along with United States and Canada, the Warner Bros.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the third chapter in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series, collected a muted $43 million in its domestic box office debut.In pandemic times, those ticket sales were enough to lead this weekend’s box office charts and land one of the biggest North American openings in 2022. But it’s also a sign that magic is in short supply for J.K. Rowling’s lucrative and ever-expanding Wizarding World.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” got off to a less than magical start in its first weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters.

Though that result is on par with the $41 million opening of fellow Warner release “Dune” last October and the $44 million opening of Sony’s “Uncharted” in February, it is down 31% from the $62 million opening of the last “Fantastic Beasts” film, the ill-received “Crimes of Grindelwald” in 2018. Audience metrics for “Secrets of Dumbledore” have been somewhat better than for “Grindelwald” with a B+ on CinemaScore to go with a 4/5 from general audiences on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak and an 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

passionate opinions as the release of “Fantastic Beasts” came months after Amber Heard filed for divorce from Depp alleging that he was “verbally and physically abusive” in their relationship.Rowling and the “Fantastic Beasts” filmmakers defended Depp’s casting as Grindelwald, as the actor was primed to take a leading role in the second film “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” The author released a statement in 2017 expressing support for Depp, saying, “Based on our understanding of the circumstances, the filmmakers and I are not only comfortable sticking with our original casting, but genuinely happy to have Johnny playing a major character in the movies.”The reaction to Depp’s casting was the first but far from the last worry the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise would face.Reviews for the first film were pleasant enough, and while the $800 million gross worldwide was a few hundred million lower than the recent “Harry Potter” films, there was room for growth as the franchise continued. After all, Rowling and director David Yates had made clear their plan was to tell this “Fantastic Beasts” story in a planned five-film franchise.But when “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” was released in 2019, the film received the worst reviews in the history of the “Potter” franchise and grossed only $159 million domestic – lower than the $234 million domestic gross of the first film, and a franchise low for the Wizarding World overall.

While industry estimates have the film potentially stretching to $44 million, which would equal what Sony’s “Uncharted” opened to in February, “Fantastic Beasts 3” had double the reported production budget at around $200 million. More importantly, the estimated opening is substantially down from the $62 million opening of “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ in 2018, which itself was down from the $74 million launch of the first “Fantastic Beasts” in 2016.

J. Kim Murphy While the domestic box office is showing signs of life after an age of COVID lockdowns, it seems that not every film franchise is being buoyed by a return of theatergoers.”Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” Warner Bros.’ latest entry in its prequel series to the “Harry Potter” franchise, is off to a somewhat rocky start, projected to land a record low debut for a Wizarding World film.The third “Fantastic Beasts” earned $20.1 million on Friday and Thursday night previews from 4,753 North American locations, which marks the lowest opening day figure for a “Potter”-adjacent film.

“Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them” movie series, and shout that magic spell in hopes I can put this sputtering prequel franchise out of its misery. And miserable, it is.Running time: 142 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some fantasy action/violence).

J.K. Rowling’s magical series took off from there, and it wasn’t until 2007 that all seven books in the series could be read consecutively without waiting for the next release.This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first film released in 2002, and the “Fantastic Beasts” film franchise has taken the timeline even further, serving as a prequel to Harry’s time at Hogwarts. Focusing on big names in Harry’s world like Newt Scamander and Albus Dumbledore, the “Fantastic Beasts” movies develop some backstory to Voldemort’s predecessor Gellert Grindelwald as well.The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is not finished yet! The third “Fantastic Beasts” film will appear in theaters very soon, and apparently, the plan is for there to be five films, so here’s how to watch “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.”When Does “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” Premiere?This third “Fantastic Beasts” film swoops into theaters Friday, April 15.Will “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” Be Streaming?“The Secrets of Dumbledore” will release exclusively in theaters, heading to HBO Max at some point since they are the sole home for the “Fantastic Beasts” films.Who Is in the “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” Cast?Eddie Redmayne stars as Newt Scamander.

“The Secrets of Dumbledore” has started casting its spell.From the first film filling us in on magizoologist Newt Scamander’s (Eddie Redmayne) background to the second film showing us everything we need to know about evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald (at the time played by Johnny Depp), this third film serves as the strongest prequel yet. In muggle history, World War II is approaching, but Gellert Grindelwald (now played by Mads Mikkelsen) has a different focus, becoming President of the Confederation of Magic so that he can see his magical form of fascism through.At the beginning of the film, Dumbledore (Jude Law) asks Newt to assemble a motley crew who will are given the intimidating task of confusing Grindelwald, who now has access to visions of the future thanks to his brutal slaying of a qilin, an adorable Bambi-like deer creatures which are some of the purest animals in the wizarding world.

It is looking like the “Fantastic Beasts” movies are putting Warner Bros. in a difficult position.

Jude Law (Dumbledore) and Mads Mikkelsen (Grindelwald) play former lovers in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore