“Fantastic Beasts” makes $75M debut

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” dominated the weekend box office, debuting to a boisterous $75 million and launching a new cinematic franchise.

It confirms Warner Bros.' high hopes for the property and its decision to back five installments in the fantasy series. “Fantastic Beasts” is a spinoff of the Harry Potter films, but instead of Hogwarts, it unfolds in 1920s New York City and features an entirely new cast of wizards and mythical creatures.

The studio spent $180 million to make the picture, enlisting Harry Potter creator JK Rowling to write the screenplay and bringing back David Yates, the director of several previous boy wizard outings. Eddie Redmayne stars as Newt Scamander, a textbook writer and collector of the titular beasts.

Audiences may have embraced the return to Potter-dom, but they gave the cold shoulder to several new films, among them the boxing drama “Bleed for This” and the Iraq War drama “Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk”. “Edge of Seventeen” didn't fare much better than the other struggling new releases.

Source: Variety