‘Fantastic Beasts’ Dominates Weekend Box Office

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the newest film in the Harry Potter universe, earned the top spot at the weekend box office, raking in an estimated $75 million in domestic ticket sales. The story, a prequel to Harry Potter, follows Newt Scamander, who joins a magical community in 1920s New York. Beasts’ serious earnings came in international money, where the film grossed $143.3 million. “When you look at the enormous success of Harry Potter and then as the wizarding world moves to its new chapter with Fantastic Beasts, this is exactly what we were hoping for,” said Jeff Goldstein, the studio’s distribution chief. The film bested other new releases this weekend, including Bleed for This and The Edge of Seventeen.