After two years removed from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, audiences can finally leave the tediousness of Privet Drive and head back to the Wizarding World in this fall's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The sequel is one of the biggest movies left this year and Warner Bros. is hoping that it will rake in the galleons at the box office. Gazing in to the crystal ball, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald could be looking at a $63 million to $75 million opening weekend.
If the early tracking for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald proves prophetic, the sequel would land in the same range as its predecessor, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which opened to $74.4 million at the domestic box office in 2016. Despite being the lowest opening of the Wizarding World titles, that film still went on to gross $234 million domestic and $814 million worldwide.
As noted by THR in the box office forecast, there are still three weeks left to go before Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald releases, so the opening weekend predictions could fluctuate as Warner Bros. makes its final marketing push.
Opening opposite Newt Scamander are pair of films offering something much different for the muggles to enjoy the weekend before Thanksgiving. Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne star as a couple that adopts three kids at once in the comedy Instant Family, and Steve McQueen's latest film Widows, a crime drama starring Viola Davis, also opens on November 16. Both films are tracking in the $10 million to $17 million range.
The tracking for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald indicates that it should still be a huge hit, perhaps matching its predecessor at the box office opening weekend, but as of right now it doesn't look like it is poised to outperform the first film in any major way. But again, tracking is still early and like Divination, it's far from an exact science.
On the one hand, you would think that Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald might be more enticing to audiences as it returns the franchise back to Hogwarts, and some of the mythology Potterheads are more familiar with like Nicolas Flamel, Dumbledore and the Elder Wand. That would make me think more audiences would turn out for this one.
However, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, rightly or wrongly, has been the subject of multiple controversies before it has even opened in theaters. From Dumbledore's sexuality to Johnny Depp's casting to the human Nagini, there has been a lot of scrutiny placed on the film, and I'm curious if that will have any impact on the box office.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald apparates into theaters on November 16. For all the biggest movies still to come this year, check out our release guide.
