‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ Plunges 79% As ‘Sonic 2’ Falls 63%

In holdover domestic box office news, J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore earned $4.1 million on its second Friday, dropping 79% from a not-great $20 million opening day. It’s looking like a $13.5 million (-68%) weekend and $66.6 million ten-day total. That’s not the worst drop for a Wizarding World flick. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II dropped 83% on Friday and 72% for the weekend in July of 2011. However, minor detail, Harry Potter 7.2 was coming off a record-breaking $92 million opening day and $169 million opening weekend and would still go on to earn $381 million domestic and $1.34 billion worldwide (the third biggest ever at the time behind Titanic and Avatar). It’s looking like a $90-$95 million finish for Fantastic Beasts 3.

Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 earned $4 million on its third Friday, taking a harsh Bad Guys-influenced dive of 63% from last Friday. Still, the $110 million video game-based sequel will earn around $16 million (-46%) to bring its total to $146.5 million. That’s past Detective Pikachu ($144 million) and Uncharted ($146 million) but just below Sonic the Hedgehog ($148 million, counting Covid-era summer 2020 reissues). So it’ll end day 24 just shy of becoming the biggest-grossing video game movie ever in unadjusted domestic earnings, a milestone it will reach in the coming days. Once it passes $155 million next weekend, it’ll be the second-biggest when adjusted for inflation behind Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider ($131 million in 2001/$212 million adjusted). It’s still looking at a terrific over/under $180 million domestic total.

In better news for better movies, A24’s sleeper smash Everything, Everywhere All At Once earned another $1.557 million (-19%) on its fifth Friday for a likely $5 million (-16%) weekend and $26.8 million 31-day total. Forget that “normal rate of descent” I discussed yesterday, this one is passing $30 million next weekend and could (emphasis on “could”) end up over $40 million by the end. The Michelle Yeoh/Ke Huy Quan/Stephanie Hsu/James Wong action-comedy is now sure to end up A24’s fourth biggest film and could end up closer to the top alongside (sans inflation) Hereditary ($44 million), Lady Bird ($49 million) and Uncut Gems ($50 million). The $25 million multiverse fantasy, courtesy of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, would be huge hit with these grosses in non-Covid times, let alone now.

Paramount’s The Lost City continued to hang tough alongside the newbies. The Sandra Bullock/Channing Tatum rom-com adventure earned $1.3 million (-38%) for a likely $4.5 million (-28%) weekend. That’ll give the $70 million original a $85.5 million 31-day total and a likely path to a $100 million-plus domestic total. I don’t know what Paramount is doing right after doing so much so wrong for the last six years, but I hope Brian Robbins can continue what Jim Gianopulos started. Sony’s Father Stu earned $990,000 (-41%) on its second Friday for a $3.2 million (-41%) weekend and $13.8 million 12-day total. Morbius will earn $2.22 million (-53%) in weekend four for a $69.1 million 24-day cume. Ambulance will earn $1.81 million (-55%) for a $19.2 million 17-day total.

Intriguingly enough, The Batman took a very real tumble on its eighth Friday, losing 731 theaters and earning just $405,000 (-69%) and setting the stage for a $1.4 million (-63%) eighth weekend. For the record, it’s still going to end the weekend with $368 million domestic, so it’s still a massive hit for all parties. The loss of theaters, the deluge of competition on all sides and the debut on HBO Max this past Monday all contributed to the big drop, but if this continues it may buck the trend we’ve seen since A Quiet Place part II whereby a hit film arriving “early” on PVOD and/or streaming doesn’t really impact the theatrical box office. I’m inclined to argue a combination of the three versus entirely blaming HBO Max, but we’ll see.