The Wizarding World has been beset by doom and gloom for a good few years now, and only some of it has had anything to do with the Fantastic Beasts movies themselves.
Whether it’s The Crimes of Grindelwald landing the worst reviews and lowest box office of the 20 year-old franchise, J.K. Rowling continuing to fan the flames of discontent and controversy with her comments, Johnny Depp being dropped as the big bad, or Ezra Miller getting in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, it’s been a tough time for the prequels.
Despite marking a minor return to form in terms of quality, The Secrets of Dumbledore is set for a soft opening weekend at the box office. The latest estimates have the middle chapter of the planned five-film saga topping out at a maximum of $45 million across its first three days in domestic theaters, by far the lowest return for any Harry Potter-associated title.
International audiences could be the key, then, but with an estimated $200 million budget to consider along with additional marketing, promotional, and distribution costs, The Secrets of Dumbledore is a long way away from being profitable. Even though The Crimes of Grindelwald was viewed as a disappointment, it still ended its run with $654 million in the coffers.
Based on how its successor is faring so far, there’s absolutely no chance that Newt Scamander’s latest magical adventure will come anywhere close to those sort of numbers. $500 million would likely be acceptable given that we’re still in the pandemic era, but the real question is what it could mean for Fantastic Beasts 4 and 5.