In light of previous Harry Potter movies in the franchise, its most recent Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is not shining very bright. The final chapter of the prequel saga takes place decades prior to the adventures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and it opened at the international box office this weekend, only pulling in $58M from 22 overseas markets.
The earnings mark a steep drop from the 2018 installment Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald which collected $191M in its international debut. Granted, the sequel was playing in 79 countries versus the third only being shown in 22, until next weekend when it arrives at 44 more markets across the globe, including, France, Italy, Korea, Brazil, and Mexico. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore also opens in the U.S. next weekend. Although a slower start is expected amid the pandemic, it is also worrisome due to Harry Potters’ ubiquitous reputation across the globe. The series has always been popular among overseas audiences. For the first two films in the prequel series, 75% of revenue came from foreign sales.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore welcomed its largest audience in China with $10 million, a notable decline from previous films. In comparison, The Crimes of Grindelwald opened to $36 million in China, and the first film in the series, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, opened at $40 million. However, the pandemic is currently grappling China with spiking cases, causing roughly 50% of the country’s theatres to remain closed.
Harry Potter alum David Yates directed the latest installment with a screenplay written by J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves. The film puts the spotlight on beloved Hogwarts professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), who teams up with notable magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to thwart the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Madds Mikkelson, who replaces Johnny Depp) from igniting a wizarding world war.
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