'Fantastic Beasts' sequel is a series-low box office opening for the Harry Potter universe
J.K. Rowling's big screen Wizarding World is hardly on death's door, but Warner Bros. can't be happy about Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald's opening weekend.
Sunday estimates point to a $62.2 million start for the newly released sequel, which hit theaters on Nov. 16. That's low. Low for a Wizarding World movie (and one that introduces a young and hot Albus Dumbledore, no less), and low for a November tentpole.
The Crimes of Grindelwald is shaping up to deliver the Wizarding World's weakest box office opening to date. Its 2016 predecessor, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, is the previous owner of that dubious honor.
The first Fantastic Beasts is also the poorest overall box office performer in the series, having ended its theatrical run with $234 million in U.S. ticket sales. The next one on the list, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -- the third of those movies, released in 2004 -- ended its run with $249.5 million domestic.
If the opening weekend is any indication, The Crimes of Grindelwald is pacing to come in under its predecessor.
The weak start is especially noteworthy given November's history as a platform for fall season blockbusters. The month's all-time champs for box office openings include three Twilight movies, two Harry Potter movies, Thor: Ragnarok, Justice League, and all three Hunger Games sequels. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is November's best overall, with a $158.1 million opening weekend.
The first Fantastic Beasts is 16th on that list. Grindelwald doesn't even make the Top 20 -- current estimates put it at #26, though it could climb a few spots higher if the final box office turns out to be a couple million more than expected. Any weekend higher than $67.6 million would put Grindelwald in November's all-time Top 20 box office openings.
Of course, U.S. ticket sales don't paint the whole picture here. Harry Potter and the Wizarding World in general are huge with foreign audiences. No movie in the series has earned less than $500 million outside the U.S. (and only one fell below $550 million -- but only just). Grindelwald opened with $191 million internationally, a great start that's quite a bit higher than the first movie's $145.5 million start.
So yes, the Wizarding World movies are in no danger of disappearing. But Fantastic Beasts clearly didn't find a Harry Potter-sized audience in 2016, and Grindelwald's (questionable) addition of Johnny Depp and a central role for Jude Law's Dumbledore didn't help.
The real question is how Grindelwald is going to perform during its whole theatrical run. A slow burn success could still make this sequel the better movie, box office-wise. But critics haven't exactly been bowled over.
All box office data provided by comScore and Box Office Mojo.
Topics Film Harry Potter
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
