“Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secret” failed at the box office. And now?

“Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore”, the third feature in the franchise derived from “Harry Potter”, arrived on HBO Max this Monday (30), after a below-average stint in theaters, which has caused concern among fans. , who fear that the pentalogy intended to tell the story of the duel between Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Gerard Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) is discontinued. And it’s not without reason: the film officially holds the title of the worst box office in the entire “Harry Potter” franchise.

But are the accounts correct? With only two weeks in theaters worldwide, “Fantastic Beasts 3” had surpassed $200 million in international grosses and covered the film’s production budget, a feat that only a franchise like “Harry Potter” could achieve that much. easily. However, the film did not grow enough to please the executives of Warner Bros. Pictures and, 50 days later, closed at nearly $395 million.

We can say that some factors may have hampered the success of “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets”, such as the dismissal of Johnny Depp from the paper of Grindelwaldthe cases of transphobia of the author of the saga, J.K. Rowlingbut two of them stand out: the coronavirus pandemic and the launch of HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s streaming platform.

First, let’s talk about the pandemic, which was responsible for closing cinemas and changed the way people started to consume film productions. In the two years between the outbreak of the virus and the release of “Fantastic Beasts 3”, movie audiences migrated strongly to streamings and the platforms met the demand of these people. Even when theaters reopened for good, some services opted for hybrid releases, keeping people at home and “unshelving” productions already shot.

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which was released in 2016 and kicked off the spin-off franchise, is the highest-grossing film of the three to date, with more than $814 million worldwide. Except for “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004), all the “Harry Potter” films have made more than this amount in their stints on the big screen.

When the second film, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” was released in 2018, the reception was even lower, with nearly $655 million at the worldwide box office. Again, these would be perfect numbers for any movie, but not for a production in the “Harry Potter” franchise, which has made nearly $8 billion at the box office from its eight films.

Both the first and second “Fantastic Beasts” films were in theaters around the world for 58 weeks, that is, more than a year, according to information from Box Office Mojo, which accounts for the films’ box office. The time on the big screen – even if it loses screens as the film is replaced by new productions – certainly helped in a more expressive revenue and would certainly help with the third film, but there is another obstacle in the way: HBO Max.

The platform debuted in May 2020 in the United States, in the first months of the pandemic, and arrived in Brazil a year later. One of the main attractions of HBO Max, announced along with the news, is that films from the WarnerMedia conglomerate, including productions by Warner Bros. Pictures like “Fantastic Beasts” would hit the service about 50 days after they opened in theaters. That is, the film has about seven weeks to conquer the same box office as it would in a year in the past.

A recent example is “The Batman,” which in the seven-week period it was in theaters grossed $752 million at the worldwide box office. For comparison’s sake, it’s just about $300 million less than “Joker,” another DC movie released in October 2019, which grossed just over $1 billion at the worldwide box office in about five months earlier. the closing of cinemas due to the pandemic.

With “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secret” officially becoming the worst-grossing “Harry Potter” franchise, Warner Bros. Pictures can change drastically. While the studio looks to keep its commitment to finalizing the pentalogy, the franchise’s declining numbers may speak volumes, especially if Warner intends to invest another $200 million in production on the fourth film.

An option to cancel would be the release of the sequels directly on HBO Max, which would make the investment decrease a little and the fans could follow the outcome of the story. However, the studio doesn’t seem to be too focused on “Fantastic Beasts” for now. In a recent interview, the producer David Heyman revealed that the script for a fourth film has not even begun to be written. Now, just wait and, if you’re a fan, cheer a lot.