For ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Series, a Case of Diminishing Returns

Actor Eddie Redmayne attends a special screening of "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" at AMC Lincoln Square on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in New York. (AP)
Actor Eddie Redmayne attends a special screening of "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" at AMC Lincoln Square on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in New York. (AP)
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For ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Series, a Case of Diminishing Returns

Actor Eddie Redmayne attends a special screening of "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" at AMC Lincoln Square on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in New York. (AP)
Actor Eddie Redmayne attends a special screening of "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" at AMC Lincoln Square on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in New York. (AP)

"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” got off to a less than magical start in its first weekend in US and Canadian theaters. The third installment in the Harry Potter spinoff opened to $43 million in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.

It was enough to secure the film the top spot on the box office charts, but it’s also a low for the franchise. The first film had a $74.4 million debut in 2016 and the second, "The Crimes of Grindelwald” opened to $62.2 million in 2018. "The Secrets of Dumbledore,” which Warner Bros. released in 4,208 locations in North America, also carries a $200 million production price tag.

It’s more common than not for sequels and threequels to come in lower than their predecessors, but "Dumbledore” also follows several franchise titles that defied that logic, including "Spider-Man: No Way Home,” "Venom 2” and "Sonic the Hedgehog 2.”

Critics were largely not on board with "Dumbledore.” With a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, most came in on the negative side. AP Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote in his review that "the purpose of these movies has never felt like much beyond keeping the Potter train running” and that this iteration is "a bit of a bore.” Audiences, which were 56% female, were a little kinder, giving it four stars on PostTrak and an overall B+ CinemaScore.

The eight Harry Potter films were responsible for over $7.7 billion in box office, while the first two "Fantastic Beasts” films made $1.5 billion total.

This installment stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Ezra Miller and Mads Mikkelsen, who replaced Johnny Depp as Grindelwald. In November 2020, following Depp’s failed libel case against The Sun tabloid newspaper for an article that labeled him a "wife beater,” the actor said Warner Bros. asked him to step down and that he agreed.

As with previous "Fantastic Beasts” films, however, "Dumbledore” has more hope internationally. Its grosses are $193 million worldwide. Both of the previous films made over 70% of their global totals from international showings.

"Recapturing the original ‘Harry Potter’ magic that began some 20 years ago in cinemas is a tall order,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "The ‘Fantastic Beasts’ franchise, while seeing diminishing returns with each successive installment, still has enough of a devoted fanbase to conjure up respectable numbers particularly with international audiences which have always provided the lion’s share of the box office for these films.”

In its second weekend, "Sonic the Hedgehog 2” fell 58% and earned an estimated $30 million, according to Paramount. The film has grossed $119.6 million to date.

Sony also released "Father Stu” in 2,705 locations on Wednesday. Starring Mark Wahlberg, who helped finance the film, "Father Stu” is based on a true story and is a rare mainstream Hollywood movie with religious themes. It earned an estimated $8 million in its first five days in theaters.



Italy's Paolo Sorrentino, US Star Dafoe Honored at Sarajevo Film Fest

A pedestrian walks across a bridge over the Miljacka River, nearly dried up and covered with algae, amid a heatwave and drought in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Aug. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
A pedestrian walks across a bridge over the Miljacka River, nearly dried up and covered with algae, amid a heatwave and drought in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Aug. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
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Italy's Paolo Sorrentino, US Star Dafoe Honored at Sarajevo Film Fest

A pedestrian walks across a bridge over the Miljacka River, nearly dried up and covered with algae, amid a heatwave and drought in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Aug. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
A pedestrian walks across a bridge over the Miljacka River, nearly dried up and covered with algae, amid a heatwave and drought in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Aug. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

Oscar-winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino will be honored at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival, which kicks off on Friday, alongside star actors Willem Dafoe, Ray Winstone and Stellan Skarsgard.

Sorrentino - known for "Il Divo", "The Hand of God" and "The Great Beauty", which was recognized as best foreign language film at the 2014 Academy Awards - will get the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the event which will show a retrospective of his films.

"Paolo Sorrentino managed to do what every filmmaker dreams of – he left a global impact through local, personal stories, festival director Jovan Reuters quoted Marjanovic as saying in a statement.

US actor Dafoe - who turned 70 last month and has starred in everything from "Poor Things" to "Spider-Man" - will also get an Honorary Heart, as will Britain's Winstone and Sweden's Skarsgard.

More than 250 films will be shown at the festival, which was founded by a group of movie enthusiasts towards the end of Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

Black comedy "Pavilion" by Bosnian film and theater director Dino Mustafic will open the program. It is the only Bosnian film made this year, reflecting the parlous state of the Balkan country's industry and a lack of government support, the association of Bosnia's film directors said this week.

Ukrainian film director Sergei Loznitsa will chair the festival jury. Nine co-productions from southern, central and eastern Europe will compete for the best feature film award, selector Elma Tataragic said.

The festival will show a selection of Arab cinematography in cooperation with the Doha Film Institute, including one showing footage of life in Gaza in the early 2000s.