The magic lives on: ‘Fantastic Beasts’ tops domestic box office

Weekend Box Office for Nov. 18 - 20, 2016.

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) - “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” matched studio expectations and brought in $75 million in its opening weekend. Some experts expected the film to soar a bit higher, but $75 million is a healthy start for a film that is set some 70 years before the events of Harry Potter and features almost an entirely new cast and story. I suspect the film, which stars Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, and a trio of lesser-known names in Dan Fogler, Katherine Waterston and Alison Sudol, will have a healthy hold as fans return to see the film for a second and third time to take in all the little details that J.K. Rowling placed within the script.

Disney’s “Moana” might keep “Fantastic Beasts” from repeating at the box office next weekend, but don’t underestimate the magic of Rowling's Wizarding World.

Worldwide, “Fantastic Beasts” has already earned $218 million. It still has a distance to go before Warner Bros. will feel comfortable. The lowest-earning Harry Potter film, “Prisoner of Azkaban,” ultimately ended with $796 million. It will be interesting to see if “Fantastic Beasts” can even come close to that. Anything over $500 million would probably be considered a victory.

In second place is Marvel’s “Doctor Strange.” The magical expansion to the Marvel Cinematic Universe earned $17.6 million. Its worldwide numbers sit just above $570 million. Even if the film were to close tomorrow, which it won’t, Marvel would consider its most recent experiment a complete success.

Third place goes to “Trolls” with $17.5 million (obviously there is a chance that “Trolls” will slip past “Doctor Strange,” but at this point it’s purely academic). The animated musical has earned $261 million worldwide. Everything from this point on is likely to be profit for DreamWorks.

“Arrival” slipped 51 percent to finish with $11.8 million. Paramount’s intellectual sci-fi drama has earned $54 million worldwide. There are still numerous international markets that have yet to see the film open, but the critically lauded film is going to need to double its current total to turn a profit.

“Almost Christmas” finished in fifth place with $7 million. The holiday comedy has now earned $25 million against a $17 million budget.

This week’s other new titles, “The Edge of Seventeen,” “Bleed for This” and “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” didn’t fare nearly as well as “Fantastic Beasts,” but the decidedly smaller budgets for at least two of the films will give them a shot at being profitable if they can hold well over the next few weeks.

“The Edge of Seventeen” earned $4.8 million against its $9 million budget. I enjoyed the film and would love to see it at least break even.

The same goes for “Bleed for This,” a solid boxing drama with an inspirational, true story starring Miles Teller as Vinny Pazienza, that earned $2.3 million against a budget of $6 million.

Then there is the case of “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.” Once considered an Oscar contender, Ang Lee’s war drama wasn’t even screened for local critics and finished the weekend with $1 million. Rumored to have a budget around $40 million, Sony will look to the foreign box office, where it has earned $22 million, to help offset what looks like a misfire for the studio.