Warner Bros said today that its new J.K. Rowling franchise Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them passed $500 million at the worldwide box office Tuesday following its second weekend in release. The Eddie Redmayne starrer has earned $161M domestically and $344M internationally for a global cume of $505M to date.
Box office analysts believe the pic, directed by Harry Potter veteran David Yates and marking Rowling’s screenwriting debut, will top out at $750M-$775M worldwide when all is said and done. It made $66M over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, and its second week overseas was boosted by strong starts in China ($41M) and Japan ($15.6M). It bowed everywhere November 18.
“We are thrilled by the success of this new adventure, which is also the start of an exciting new franchise for the studio,” said Warner Bros’ Sue Kroll in making the announcement today. “With Fantastic Beasts, the brilliant J.K. Rowling has created an immersive story with timeless themes that are resonating with both critics and audiences in every corner of the world. We congratulate her, our director David Yates, the wonderful cast and everyone involved in the film on this milestone.”
