Even with a low opening weekend for the franchise, J. K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore has debuted atop the box office.
According to NBC News, the film, which is the third prequel to the Harry Potter series, debuted with a $43 million opening weekend. Despite having such a low box office take, The first prequel, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, grossed $74 million on its first day in 2016, and the second prequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, grossed $62 million on its first day in 2018. And it was the franchise’s lowest-ever debut.
“We’ve seen the grosses edge downward with each of the Fantastic Beasts films, [but] this is still another in a long line of No. 1 debuts for films in that orbit in the Harry Potter universe,” said analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore.
The franchise’s poor start is due to recent controversy over J.K. Rowling’s views on the transgender community, as well as Johnny Depp’s dismissal from the part of Grindelwald. Johnny Depp was accused of domestic abuse, but he denied the charges. Mads Mikkelsen has taken Depp’s spot. A couple accused Ezra Miller, who is also in the film’s cast, of threatening them, and he was detained in Hawaii on counts of bad behavior and harassment.
However, the film was able to surpass Sonic the Hedgehog, which finished second in North America with $30 million in its second week. But, just last week, Sonic made a $71 million domestic debut, making it the first time a video game film has ever made a box office debut.
Sonic 2‘s record opening is a victory for Paramount and for the industry at large,” addressed by Paramount Theatrical Distribution Boss Chris Aronson. “The filmmakers did an amazing job of crafting a film that is both in service of Sonic’s legions of fans as well as the general and family audience. Growing a franchise is no small feat and having an opening +22% over the first film is a remarkable achievement. Kudos to the filmmakers and to the marketing and distributions teams at Paramount for doing a fantastic job in bringing the film into the global marketplace!”
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With £1m what would you do: I would do my part to provide opportunities to the less fortunate. Then do my best to change the world in my own way through sports and talent building.
