Entertainment News Roundup: 'Fantastic Beasts 3' Opens to Franchise-Low $43 Million

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs. Box Office: 'Fantastic Beasts 3' Opens to Franchise-Low $43 Million "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore," the third chapter in the "Harry Potter" spinoff series, collected a muted $43 million in its domestic box office debut.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Box Office: 'Fantastic Beasts 3' Opens to Franchise-Low $43 Million

"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore," the third chapter in the "Harry Potter" spinoff series, collected a muted $43 million in its domestic box office debut. In pandemic times, those ticket sales were enough to lead this weekend's box office charts and land one of the biggest North American openings in 2022. But it's also a sign that magic is in short supply for J.K. Rowling's lucrative and ever-expanding Wizarding World. Dinged by mixed reviews and growing apathy for prequel series star Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and company, "The Secrets of Dumbledore" stands as the worst start for a "Harry Potter"-adjacent movie. (Its predecessors 2016's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," launched to $74 million in North America, while the 2018 follow-up "The Crimes of Grindelwald" bowed to $62 million.)