Warner Bros Pictures returned to the world of Harry Potter with the launch of a new franchise which kicked off with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them starring Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander. The film performed about as expected, opening domestically with $75 million which is solid but just under the openings of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. While Fantastic Beasts had a strong opening, the same can’t be said for the weekends other new offerings. The Edge of Seventeen under-performed by a few million while Bleed for This grossed just #2.35 million from 1,500 theaters.
Up next, the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend will introduce the Brad Pitt/Marion Cotillard WWII thriller Allied into theaters. Disney’s targeting the younger audience with the release of the animated comedy Moana featuring the voice of Dwayne Johnson, and Fox will debut Rules Don’t Apply directed by and starring Warren Beatty.
Box Office Top 10: November 18-20, 2016
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them – $75,000,000
- Doctor Strange – $17,676,000
- Trolls – $17,500,000
- Arrival – $11,800,000
- Almost Christmas – $7,040,000
- Hacksaw Ridge – $6,750,000
- The Edge of Seventeen – $4,825,000
- Bleed for This – $2,357,946
- The Accountant – $2,115,000
- Shut In – $1,600,000
