‘Fantastic Beasts’ recalls franchise for low $43 million at North American box office

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the third installment in the Harry Potter prequel series, topped the North American box office this weekend with a $43 million opening, according to studio estimates today. Sunday.

However, the latest installment in the fantasy franchise fell short of the domestic opening weekend of the previous two: 2016’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” ($74 million) and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes” of Grindelwald” in 2018 ($62 million).

“We’ve seen totals dwindle with each ‘Fantastic Beasts’ movie, [but] Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, a company that tracks box office data, said it was yet another in a long line of films at the top of that orbit in the Harry Potter universe. .

The film opened at 4,208 locations in North America, grossing an average of $10,219 per location, according to Warner Bros. Pictures.

In some respects, the series “Fantastic Beasts” has been overshadowed by scrutinizing Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s views on the transgender community as well as allegations of domestic abuse against actor Johnny Depp, who was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen as Grindelwald. Depp has denied the allegations.

Theo for distributor Paramount Pictures.

Michael Bay’s “Ambulance,” a frantic thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, continued to impress in its second weekend in theaters, adding $4 million to its domestic gross. accumulated $15.6 million, according to Universal Pictures. (Universal Pictures and NBC News are both units of NBCUniversal.)

The only major new film hitting theaters this weekend is the Mark Wahlberg religious drama “Father Stu,” which opens on Wednesday. According to Sony, the film, about the real life of a boxer, grossed $8 million within five days.

US cinemas that struggled during the first two years of the pandemic got a boost this year with hit movies like “The Batman” (Warner Bros.), the adventure story “Uncharted” (Sony). ) and the reboot “Scream” (Important).

Major theater chains are gearing up for even bigger crowds in May with the release of two big-budget movies: Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in Madness’s Multiverse” (May 6) and “Top Gun: Maverick” (May 27) by Paramount (May 27).

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