Author: Pamela McClintock / Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne’s comedy ‘Instant Family’ opens in fourth place with $14.7 million, followed by Steve McQueen’s ‘Widows’ with $12.3 million; ‘Green Book’ and ‘At Eternity’s Gate’ fare well at the specialty box office.
Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald couldn’t conjure the same magic the first film did in its U.S. opening, but made up ground overseas for a worldwide launch of $253.2 million.
In North America, the sequel debuted to $62.2 million from 4,163 theaters, compared to $74.4 million for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on the same pre-Thanksgiving weekend in 2016. The first Fantastic Beasts fared better with critics and earned an A CinemaScore, while Crimes of Grindelwald battled generally poor reviews and a B+ CinemaScore.
Overseas, Crimes of Grindelwald roared to $191 million from 79 markets, slightly ahead of the first Beasts ($187 million). China led this time with $47.5 million, although Sony’s Venom stayed atop the chart in the Middle Kingdom with $51.2 million for a phenomenal 10-day total there of $207.1 million and a worldwide tally of $780.5 million.
Crimes of Grindelwald, penned by J.K. Rowling and directed by David Yates, sparked controversy when Johnny Depp was cast as the villain Gellert Grindelwald. Last week, the actor attended the premiere in London. In the U.K., the movie debuted to $16.3 million.
Crimes of Grindelwald sees Eddie Redmayne return in the role of Newt Scamander, who is recruited by a young Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) to take down Grindelwald. The ensemble cast features Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Zoe Kravitz, Callum Turner and Claudia Kim. Nearly 70 percent of ticket buyers were over the age of 25, while females made up 57 percent of the audience.
Warners execs say the pic is lined up to do strong business as the holidays unfold, and dismissed any notion…
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