It may be slipping down the domestic box office charts, but Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald continues to dominate the international markets, helping to propel the Harry Potter spinoff sequel beyond the half billion mark worldwide.
The second instalment of the Fantastic Beasts series added a further $51.4 million this past weekend ($40.2 million coming from 80 markets outside North America) to push its global haul to $519.6 million.
Nevertheless, with a packed holiday season incoming, the film will have its work cut out to catch Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which grossed $796.7 million worldwide back in 2016 (a series low for J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World).
The Fantastic Beasts sequel was the second movie to cross $500 million this weekend alongside the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which has grossed $539.6 million to date.
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At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.
In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald sees David Yates directing a cast that includes Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein, Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein, Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski, Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone, Zoe Kravitz as Leta Lestrange, Kevin Guthrie as Abernathy, Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald, Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore, Callum Turner as Theseus Scamander, William Nadylam as Yusuf Kama, Ingvar Sigurdsson as Grimmson, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Skender, David Sakurai as Krall, Brontis Jodorowsky as Nicolas Flamel, Wolf Roth as Spielman, Victoria Yeates as Bunty, Derek Riddell as Torquil Travers, Poppy Corby-Tuech as Rosier, Cornell S. John as Arnold Guzman and Claudia Kim as Nagini.
