Fantastic Beasts sequel a soft No. 1

Returns tepid, reviews poor for Potter prequel

LOS ANGELES • For months, Warner Bros. marketers did everything they could to stir interest in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the second of the studio’s five lavish Harry Potter prequels. The hard sell appears to have worked overseas. But initial ticket sales were soft in the United States and Canada, where audiences are more susceptible to reviews.

And the reviews were sickly — the worst for J.K. Rowling’s movie-verse by far — potentially hurting the all-important Warner franchise going forward: When audiences feel let down by one chapter in a film series, it is harder to get them to care about the next one.

The Crimes of Grindelwald took in an estimated US$62.2 million at 4,163 theatres in North America, about 16 per cent less than Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them collected over its first three days in 2016. The Crimes of Grindelwald received a B-plus grade from ticket buyers in Cinema Score exit polls, down from an A for the previous instalment.

Overseas, the new movie rolled out in 79 markets and sold an estimated US$191 million in tickets, a total that Warner described as “spectacular” in a statement Sunday. Turnout in Russia was particularly strong, Warner said.

Attendance at Imax theatres across the globe was also robust. Ron Sanders, the studio’s president of worldwide theatrical distribution and home entertainment, said that the film’s “very successful opening” set it up well to play “throughout the holiday season.”

The Crimes of Grindelwald, which cost roughly US$200 million to make and US$150 million to market worldwide, stars Eddie Redmayne and Johnny Depp, whose troubling offscreen behaviour in recent years has cost him fans. David Yates directed the PG13 film; Rowling wrote the screenplay.

Second and third place for the weekend in North America went to holdover hits. Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (Universal) had ticket sales of about US$38.2 million, for a two-week domestic total of US$126.5 million, according to Comscore, which compiles box-office data.

The Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (20th Century Fox) collected an estimated US$15.7 million, for a three-week domestic total of US$127.9 million and pushing worldwide ticket sales to nearly US$400 million.