Warner Bros. might be a little apprehensive about theFantastic Beastsfranchise going forward. The new installment,Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwaldpulled in $62 million at the domestic box off, over $12 million less thanFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themdid two years ago. Either people were scared off by the poor reviews or they simply didn’t take to the firstFantastic Beastsenough to want seconds. That being said, it looks like the studio might be able to coast this franchise off international.THRreports that the movie made $253.2 million worldwide, so that might be enough to keepFantastic Beastsafloat, although looking to overseas for a lifeline is still kind of underperforming when you consider this is the continuation of theHarry Potterfranchise.
To be fair toFantastic Beasts, the film had some serious competition for families with the second weekend ofThe Grinch. The animated movie landed in second place with a weekend total of $38.1 million. The film has already grossed over $100 million in ten days to bring its domestic total to $126.5 million, and it promises to be a serious player over the holiday frame.
Bohemian Rhapsodyalso held well in its third weekend, pulling in $15.7 million to land it in third place with a domestic total of $129.7 million. It may not be the most honest look at Queen or the life of frontman Freddie Mercury, but that PG-13 rating is definitely paying dividends for the rock band’s biopic.
In terms of other news releases,Instant Familywound up in fourth place with $14.7 million, which is well behind Mark Wahlberg’s and Sean Anders’ previous efforts with theDaddy’s Homemovies, but Paramount thinksInstant Familywill have some legs thanks to its “A” CinemaScore.
Finally,Widowsonly earned a “B” CinemaScore and took the fifth spot with a weekend take of $12.3 million. The smart heist thriller may have fallen into a gap where people weren’t sure if it was just a popcorn movie or if it was more serious awards fare.
At the specialty box office,Green Bookearned a solid per screen average of $12,520 from 25 screens whileAt Eternity’s Gateposted a per screen average of $23,000 from only four theaters.
Check out the weekend’s top 10 estimates below, and be back here next week to see ifRalph Breaks the Internetcan break the box office.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
$62,200,000
The Grinch
$38,165,000
$126,544,280
Bohemian Rhapsody
$15,700,000
$127,885,859
Instant Family
$14,700,000
$12,300,000
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
$4,678,000
$43,870,690
A Star Is Born
$4,350,000
$185,840,907
$3,850,000
$17,742,889
The Girl in the Spider’s Web
$2,500,000
$13,290,523
Nobody’s Fool
$2,260,000
$28,887,618
