J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hit theaters last Friday and people all over the world, myself included, have been shelling out $10-$20 per ticket to see the film which is being heralded as a quasi-prequel to the Harry Potter series. The film brought in an estimated $145.5 million at the International Box Office over the weekend, with $75 million of that spent at theaters here in the USA. With a total film budget of $180 million, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set to eclipse that figure and hit profitability this week (some are estimating it will make $700 million in total).
It was a really fun movie, and I’m happy I went to see it. I do think that I enjoyed Doctor Strange just as much but I think it was because Doctor Strange was the first film I’ve seen make good use of 3D technology since Avatar. Part of the fun of em>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is 1) unlike all of the Harry Potter films that hit theaters long after the books had been printed nobody really knew what to expect with this film and 2) Fantastic Beasts takes place in 1920’s New York City, a setting that North American audiences are much more accustomed to seeing than make believe Hogwarts in England.
Whatever the reasons are behind this film’s success, it’s definitely worth seeing this holiday season when you find some downtime and are tired of playing card games with your Great Aunt Sally.