Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third film in Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter spinoff franchise, debuted at the top of the foreign box office, ahead of its domestic release next weekend. Fantastic Beasts 3 was the top pick for viewers, grossing $58 million in 22 nations (the picture being number one in each of them) and trailing only slightly behind another W.B. success, The Batman.
In addition to the United States, the picture will be released in over 40 countries next weekend, capitalizing on the lucrative Easter holidays and ongoing school vacations. This weekend, IMAX grossed $4.3 million on 500 screens in all 22 markets where it was released.
Fantastic Beasts 3 generated $10 million in China, accounting for 62 percent of the market share among the top five films. In Germany, it grossed $9.4 million, $8.6 million in Japan, $8 million in Harry Potter’s native country of the United Kingdom, and $3.9 million in Australia.
This is a pivotal moment for the series, which previously showed significant symptoms of diminishing fan enthusiasm. W.B. made several course corrections for the third picture, which connects the Fantastic Beasts franchise more closely to the popular Harry Potter films than any prior installment.
To that end, the film appears to have cast aside the primary protagonists from the previous two episodes in favor of Jude Law‘s teenage Albus Dumbledore and Mads Mikkelsen‘s wicked wizard Gellert Grindelwald. Mikkelsen took over for Johnny Depp, who was forced to leave the franchise due to home issues. J.K. Rowling was appointed a co-writer in franchise veteran Steve Kloves after authoring the screenplays for the first two films alone.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was released in 2016, grossed an impressive $814 million worldwide. The second film, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, debuted to mixed reviews and only grossed $654 million worldwide in 2018.
David Yates, who previously helmed the first two films in the spinoff series and the past four films in the Harry Potter franchise, is directing Fantastic Beasts 3. Ezra Miller, Eddie Redmayne, Victoria Yeates, Dan Fogler, Jessica Williams, William Nadylam, Callum Turner, Alison Sudol, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Katherine Waterston, Oliver Masucci, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Fiona Glascott, Richard Coyle and Valerie Pachner are among the cast members.
You can see the trailer here, and keep an eye on Cinemazzi for additional information:
