Box Office: ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ Conjuring Franchise-Low Opening Weekend

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the latest timeline-bending entry in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, has kicked off at the international box office, collecting $27.2 million on opening day.The film is currently playing in 20 overseas markets, including France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Korea. “Doctor Strange 2” opens in North America and several other territories on Friday.

Refresh for latest…: Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness began offshore release on Wednesday in 20 markets and is already doing some crazy numbers. With $27.2M through yesterday, the first-day overall results are only 4% below Spider-Man: No Way Home and a staggering 153% ahead of the original 2016 Doctor Strange, as well as 210% ahead of The Batman on a like-for-like basis at today’s rates.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAnother weekend, another new Liam Neeson action-thriller in theaters.“Memory,” the actor’s nth COVID-era caper to play on the big screen, debuted over the weekend to $3.1 million from 2,555 North American cinemas. Its eighth-place finish is a weak result, but one that’s close to Neeson’s recent theatrical releases like “Blacklight” ($3.6 million debut), “Honest Thief” ($3.6 million debut) and “The Marksman” ($3.1 million debut).Since Open Road Films and Briarcliff Entertainment’s “Memory” is the only new nationwide release, last weekend’s champion “The Bad Guys” topped the box office again.

Naman Ramachandran “The Lost City” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” led the U.K. and Ireland box office over the four-day Easter holiday weekend.Paramount’s “The Lost City,” with a star-studded cast including Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt, debuted with £2.7 million ($3.5 million) atop the box office, according to numbers released by Comscore.

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.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” grossed $20.1 million on April 15, its opening night, according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo database.Warner Bros.

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.

Mads Mikkelsen has revealed he was given two days notice to replace Johnny Depp in a leading role in the Fantastic Beasts film franchise. Hannibal actor Mads, 56, took over the role of genocidal wizard villain Gellert Grindewald in newly released The Secrets of Dumbledore.

“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).

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” has generated, in the weeks leading up to its release, if not exactly interest, then a kind of curiosity.This is a franchise that has survived, by the skin of its teeth, despite a largely apathetic critical and commercial response and several scandals ranging from author J.K. Rowling’s controversial comments about sex and gender to one-time costar Johnny Depp’s alleged spousal abuse, that have potentially dinged the franchise irrevocably.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the latest film in the Wizarding World universe and the third movie as part of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, brought in $6 million in its Thursday box office previews from over 3,350 screens. While “Fantastic Beasts” looked to be a once promising franchise when it launched in 2016, the third film, “The Secrets of Dumbledore,” has been dogged by off screen controversy and is following up some tepid reviews for the previous film “The Crimes of Grindelwald.” And while independent trackers say that “Secrets of Dumbledore” could climb to between $47-50 million this weekend, that would be below the prior installment.

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

Warner Bros. which has traditionally ruled the Easter weekend box office is back, now a year later after Godzilla vs. Kong brought bread to reopening cinemas during the pandemic, with J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. The pic’s stateside opening, and further expansion abroad into 44 markets, arrives days after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger went public.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAn pack of intrepid wizards will duel against a tiny blue speed demon to lead domestic box office charts.The odds-on favorite “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the third entry in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series, is expected to debut to at least $40 million from 4,200 North American theaters. Those ticket sales should be enough to surpass the competition — unless last weekend’s champion “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” powers to another strong turnout at the movies.

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

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, agreed to edit out two references to same-sex relationships from the film following demands from Chinese government censors.The censored dialogue, the removal of which ensured that the government would allow the film to be released to the public, occurs during a scene between main characters Albus Dumbledore, played by Jude Law, and Gellert Grindelwald, played by Mads Mikkelsen.The lines, which amounted to six seconds in total, were “…because I was in love with you” and “The summer Gellert and I fell in love,” reports the South China Morning Post.In 2007, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series, declared that Dumbledore, who became the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry later in life, is gay, although he was never referenced as such in the books.Dumbledore’s sexual orientation was subsequently hinted at in the first two Fantastic Beasts films — which serve as prequels to the Harry Potter films — but it’s not until The Secrets of Dumbledore that the character’s sexuality if fully acknowledged on screen.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £5.8 million ($7.6 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. In its second weekend, Paramount’s “Sonic The Hedgehog 2” collected £2.9 million and now has a total of £10.6 million.