00:08Warner Bros. Fantastic Beasts, The Secrets of Dumbledore, started off its domestic box office with a solid $6 million in Thursday previews.
00:16A movie which marks the third installment in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter spinoff franchise is hoping to open to $40 to $50 million over Easter weekend.
00:25Franchises have become more important to Hollywood studios, but with Fantastic Beasts, it remains to be seen whether this particular series can keep going.
00:34Directed by David Yates, Secrets of Dumbledore stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Mads Mikkelsen, Ezra Miller and more.
00:41In 2016, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them debuted to $74.4 million domestically.
00:47The second installment, Fantastic Beasts, The Crimes of Grindelwald, came in below that at $62.2 million.
00:54The Fantastic Beasts series has never caught on in the way Harry Potter did, and recent controversies coupled with COVID delays has only complicated matters.
01:02Ezra Miller, who plays Credence Barebone in all three films, made headlines after appearing to choke a fan outside a club,
01:09and most recently allegedly harassed people at a bar in Hawaii and breaking into a couple's hotel room.
01:15And Johnny Depp, who played the Fantastic Beasts villain, Gillard Grindelwald, in the second installment, left Secrets of Dumbledore and was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen when he became embroiled in domestic abuse allegations made by his ex-wife Amber Heer.
01:29And then there is series creator Rowling, who has spent the past two years repeatedly reaffirming her anti-trans views.
01:36Overseas, Fantastic Beasts 3 has earned more than $60 million plus to date from select markets where it rolled out early.
01:43For more on this story, head to THR.com.
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