It’s already had another four movies announced with David Yates in the director’s chair, but the opening weekend for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has earned the lowest opening of any Harry Potter movie to date.
The film opened to number one against Doctor Strange and Trolls in their third weeks, and earned an estimated $75 million domestically. This was in-line with expert predictions, but slightly below expectations. It’s just slightly lower than $77 million openings of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, both of which went on to earn $292 million and $301 million respectively.
What’s interesting is that only 18% of the audience was under the age of 18 while 55% were over 35. This would suggest that fans of the Harry Potter franchise the first time round turned out to see it, but the series isn’t attracting new viewers.
SEE ALSO: The Harry Potter Films Ranked from Worst to Best
SEE ALSO: Read our reviews of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them here, here and here
It’s not all bad news, however, as the international takings for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – as expected – were much better. The film opened in eleven markets, earning $11 million from South Korea and $18 million from the UK. In total, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them took home $218 million worldwide. Should this movie follow the same trends as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them could earn upwards of $950 million worldwide.
H/T Box Office Mojo
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is out now and sees Harry Potter veteran David Yates direct a cast that includes Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), Katherine Waterston (Steve Jobs), Dan Fogler (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Alison Sudol (Transparent), Ezra Miller (Justice League), Samantha Morton (In America), Jon Voight (Ray Donovan), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Carmen Ejogo (Selma), Jenn Murray (Brooklyn) and Colin Farrell (True Detective) alongside newcomer Faith Wood-Blagrove.
Originally published November 21, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
