Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them may not have Harry Potter in its title, but the first entry in J.K. Rowling and David Yates’ spin-off series did Harry Potter numbers, dominating the box office and dethroning Doctor Strange from its position at the top of the charts. The film’s success came at the expense of the other newcomers, with The Edge of Seventeen and Bleed For This both stumbling in the bottom half of the top 10.

FilmWeekendPer Screen
1Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them$75,000,000$18,098$75,000,000
2Doctor Strange$17,676,000 (-58.9)$4,785$181,542,000
3Trolls$17,500,000 (-50.0)$4,436$116,214,000
4Arrival$11,800,000 (-51.0)$5,054$43,370,000
5Almost Christmas$7,040,000 (-53.5)$2,959$25,420,000
6Hacksaw Ridge$6,750,000 (-36.5)$2,341$42,854,000
7The Edge of Seventeen$4,825,000$2,481$4,825,000
8Bleed For This$2,357,000$1,522$2,357,000
9The Accountant$2,115,000 (-52.1)$1,486$81,252,000
10Shut In$1,600,000 (-55.7)$798$6,036,000

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opened with $75 million, putting it in the same ballpark as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, both of which opened to $77 million in 2007 and 2009 (for the record, Harry Potter and the Death Hallows Part 2 opened to an astonishing $169 million in 2011). Those films ended up grossing $292 million and $301 million at the domestic box office when all was said and done, but it remains to be seen if audiences will embrace this new era of the wizarding world quite like they embraced Rowling’s earlier stories. It feels like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a $200 million movie by default, but anything beyond that will reflect actual audience satisfaction. Next weekend will be key.

Despite glowing reviews, the high school comic drama The Edge of Seventeen opened in seventh place with only $4 million, a dead-on-arrival start for one of the year’s most crowd-pleasing films. There are two sources of solace here. First, the film only cost $9 million to produce and stands a strong chance of breaking even if it’s able to hang around for a few weeks. Second, it’s practically guaranteed to find its audience in home release and will become a favorite in the decades ahead. That’s not much, but it’s something.

The third new release of the week, the boxing drama Bleed For This, stumbled in eighth place, opening with only $2 million. Like The Edge of Seventeen, it didn’t cost much (an estimated $6 million), but these are not the numbers anyone was hoping for.

The rest of the top 10 fell as expected, with Doctor Strange — finally facing some blockbuster competition — falling 58% for a weekend haul of $17 million and a total gross of $181 million. It should cross $200 million next weekend before eyeing that the $250 million milestone. With more big-budget competition just around the corner, $300 million feels unlikely, but anything beyond this is just another part of the victory lap. The film is already a hit and will outgross many of Marvel Studios’ non-Iron Man movies.

In third place, Trolls took its first serious hit, dropping 50% and grossing $17 million for a $116 million total. However, animated family movies tend to be slow and steady at the box office, so expect this one to stick around for awhile and edge toward $200 million.

In fourth place, Arrival took a larger-than-expected 51% drop, grossing $11 million for a $43 million total. Barring a disastrous third weekend, the acclaimed science fiction drama should be on track to make $70 million or so, a strong showing for a modestly budgeted movie intended for adult audiences. In fifth place, Almost Christmas took a 53% drop — earning $7 million for a $25 million total — but it didn’t cost much and should fare perfectly fine over the coming weeks.

And that brings us to Hacksaw Ridge, which only fell 36% and currently sits at $42 million. While none of its weekends have been impressive on their own, Mel Gibson’s return as a director has showcased quiet endurance and is looking more and more like it’ll be one of the year’s sleeper hits. The same applies to The Accountant, which is about to exit the top 10 after breaking $80 million.

 

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