Fantastic Beasts

2022 - 4 - 15

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The New York Times"

'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore' Review: The Plot ... (The New York Times)

Mads Mikkelsen plays an evil wizard with political talent in the latest “Harry Potter” spinoff movie, which also stars Jude Law and Eddie Redmayne.

The image is a reminder that fiction is not just a history lesson, but a means of escape. Redmayne’s character justifies his existence in the plot by coming into possession of a Qilin (pronounced chillin), a rare, fawn-like creature that holds unusual sway in electoral races — it’s a kind of mammalian dowsing rod that has the power to identify a person’s purity of heart and ability to be a leader. Instead of building the plot around a tedious pursuit peppered with cutesy digital monsters — a misstep in the first two “Fantastic Beasts” films — the returning director David Yates and the screenwriters, J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, center “Secrets of Dumbledore” on an election. The series seems to be shifting its spotlight away from its supposed lead and his love interest from the previous movies, Tina (Katherine Waterston), who pretty much is only featured in one scene. The focus is on the tragic entanglements of Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), who once romanced the hate-inciting Grindelwald and still wears an old blood-oath necklace that strangles him for thinking mean thoughts about his former love. In this third installment in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise (itself a prequel series to the original “Harry Potter” stories), cuddly critters have mostly been swapped out for darker creatures: Here, scorpionesque freaks guard a prison where activists are tortured (or worse). A chunk of the story is set in 1930s Berlin. The deadly stakes are crystal-ball clear.

'Fantastic Beasts 3' review: 'Secrets of Dumbledore' improves slightly ... (Inverse)

The latest Wizarding World movie may be an improvement, but it doesn't do much to elevate the 'Fantastic Beasts' franchise.

Combined with the script’s placement of the beasts closer to the center of the narrative action, the creatures get to be more than just set pieces. Grindelwald’s influence is on the rise in the same way Lord Voldemort gained power in Order of the Phoenix. Fantastic Beasts 3 also harkens back to Dumbledore’s Army, with the Hogwarts professor assembling a small team of wizards and humans to face Grindelwald. In The Secrets of Dumbledore, the year is 1932 and it’s again time to pick the next leader of the wizarding world. It’s evident that Kloves treats this film as his own take on Order of the Phoenix. The Secrets of Dumbledore is a way to fill that writerly void and the two installments share a few things in common. While the Harry Potter author took a backseat role in the original run of movies, she penned the first two Fantastic Beasts scripts on her own to little critical acclaim. Whether Fantastic Beasts crumbles into ash or rises like a phoenix depends almost entirely on its third installment, The Secrets of Dumbledore.

'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore' Looks To Spell Near ... (Deadline)

'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore' Looks To Spell Near $160M WW Total By Easter; 'Father Stu' Sees $1.6M Opening Day Box Office.

Sonic 2 came in ahead of its Sunday projection with a $72.1M opening; the pic is expected to ease 50% in weekend 2 with an estimated $36M. The film currently holds a 95% positive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and received a 5-star PostTrak exit. On the heels of the openings of The Lost City, Morbius and Sonic the Hedgehog, that’s a great spring for recovering exhibitors. Outlook for the weekend over five days is $7M to possibly $10M. Abroad, 44 new markets this weekend including France, Italy, and Korea on Wednesday, followed by Brazil and Mexico on Thursday, are expected to deliver well north of $40M for the Burbank, CA lot. This is the first time the franchise is playing the spring having previously played November before. Meanwhile, Columbia Pictures looks to capitalize on the Christian holiday weekend with the Mark Wahlberg R-rated drama Father Stu, about an amateur boxer who eventually becomes a Catholic priest. Franchise-wise, after Fantastic Beasts 1 and 2 respectively opened to $74.4M and $62.1M, this installment is poised to play like a threequel, particularly coming off of the second film which earned a B+ CinemaScore in 2018. The stateside arrival of J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, and further expansion abroad into 44 markets, arrives days after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger went public. Grindelwald pulled in 52% female, with 52% over 25. The Harry Potter franchise spinoff has always demonstrated its potency more so abroad than stateside, so look for the magic there. David Yates, who has directed all the Fantastic Beasts movies, and Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows 1 & 2, is natch behind this threequel, which after a $56.9 million start in 22 offshore markets last weekend is eyeing, thanks to Easter vacations, a near $77M overseas cume by EOD Thursday. Add in a global weekend projected haul of $80M, and it will take Dumbledore‘s worldwide cume to $157M by Sunday according to industry estimates.

Fantastic Beasts

'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore' Review: The Plot ... (The New York Times)

'Fantastic Beasts 3' review: 'Secrets of Dumbledore' improves slightly ... (Inverse)

'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore' Looks To Spell Near ... (Deadline)

Where to stream the first 2 'Fantastic Beasts' movies before you see ... (Business Insider)

Mads Mikkelsen & Jessica Williams on 'Fantastic Beasts,' How They ... (Collider.com)

'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore' Review: Mangy Malaise (The Wall Street Journal)

'Harry Potter' Spin-Off Franchise 'Fantastic Beasts' Has Been ... (GQ Magazine)

'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore' Ending Explained (Collider.com)

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore movie review (2022 ... (Roger Ebert)

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