It should come as a shock to no one thatFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themdominated the box office this weekend. It was opening against two small movies, and it’s the continuation of the belovedHarry Potterfranchise. The question wasn’t, “Will it open big?” The question was, “How big will it open?” And while it didn’t eclipse the opening weekend of any of theHarry Pottermovies, it still pulled in a respectable $75 million from 4,144 theaters. The movie, which cost $180 million, launched around the world this weekend and is on track to pull in $200 million worldwide. When you consider that it nabbed an A CinemaScore from audiences, the movie should have some legs, although there will certainly be competition over Thanksgiving from Disney’s animated family film,Moana.
Meanwhile,Doctor Strangeis humming right along. The movie passed the $570 million mark worldwide and will soon surpassIron Man’s $585 million global take. Domestically, the movie pulled in $17.7 million, which was good enough for the #2 spot this weekend.
Over at DreamWorks Animation,Trollsis doing surprisingly solid business, and the movie crossed the $100 million mark domestically this weekend to bring its total to $116.2 million after earning another $17.5 million.
News, however, is not so good for this weekend’s other newcomers.The Edge of Seventeen, even though it got an A- CinemaScore, came in at only $4.8 million this weekend. The movie cost $9 million to make, and STX Entertainment was hoping for a debut around $10 million. Hopefully, this film becomes a word-of-mouth hit because it deserves the love.
Bleed for Thishad an even worse opening. TheMiles Tellerboxing flick only pulled in $2.5 million from 1,459 theaters.
There was also bad news forBilly Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, which was expanding into 1,176 theaters this weekend, but only pulled in $1 million. The technology directorAng Leeused to film, shooting his picture at 120fps, can’t be properly projected at most theaters, so despite his lofty projections, he basically made a film that most audiences wouldn’t be able to appreciate even if they bought a ticket to see it. Then again, critics who saw the film projected in 120fps weren’t exactly bowled over.
Over in limited releases,Manchester by the Seapulled in $241,230 from four theaters for a location average of $60,408 whileNocturnal Animalsgrossed $493,000 from 37 locations for a location average of $13,321. That’s respectable showings for both Oscar hopefuls.
Check out the Top 10 below.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
$75,000,000
Doctor Strange
$17,676,000
$17,500,000
$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
$1,600,000
