Thursday Night Previews: Fantastic Doesn’t Quite Live Up to Its Name with $8.75 million - Updated

November 18, 2016

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them pulled in $8.75 million during its midnight shows last night. That’s good, but a little lower than expected and not even the best of the fall so far. It was beaten by Doctor Strange, which earned $9.4 million just two weeks ago. Worse still, Fantastic Beasts' reviews have fallen to 74% positive. That’s still good for a blockbuster release, but it is the lowest in the Harry Potter franchise and will likely hurt the film’s box office performance over the weekend. It should still make over $80 million this weekend, but it will be close. We might have to revise that prediction lower tomorrow when we have Friday’s estimates.

The Edge of Seventeen opened with just $220,000 during its previews. This is bad. This is really bad. Granted, its reviews are 95% positive, so its word of mouth should be terrific, but this result should scare the studio. Missing the top five with $7 million is now possible. I could also be panicking for nothing. We will know more tomorrow.

We still don’t have numbers for Bleed for This, but its reviews have also fallen, so I’m concerned for its chances.

- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Comparisons
- The Edge of Seventeen Comparisons
- Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk Comparisons
- Bleed for This Comparisons

Filed under: Midnight Previews, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Doctor Strange, The Edge of Seventeen, Bleed for This, Harry Potter