Warner Bros.’ Wizarding World is in trouble on the cinema side.

Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets opened to $43 million at the domestic box office over Easter weekend after earning $20.1 million on Friday, including $6 million in Thursday previews. It’s fared better overseas, where it earned another $71 million for a worldwide total of $193 million (it opened last weekend in select markets).

The $200 million film – which marks the third installment in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter spin-off franchise – lands well behind its predecessors. As franchises become increasingly important to Hollywood studios, it remains to be seen if this particular series can continue.

Directed by David Yates, Dumbledore’s secrets stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Mads Mikkelsen, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, William Nadylam, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams and Victoria Yeates.

In 2016, fantastic beasts and where to find them debuted to $74.4 million domestically after earning an A CinemaScore. The second payment, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwaldcame in below that, at $62.2 million, or 16%. Dumbledore came in 30 percent behind Grindelwald.

Both Grindelwald and Dumbledore earned a B+ CinemaScore.

the fantastic beasts the series never caught on Harry Potter did. To complicate matters, there has been a lot of behind-the-scenes drama and production delays due to COVID-19.

Ezra Miller, who plays Credence Barebone in all three films, made headlines after he appeared to smother a fan outside a club and, more recently, allegedly harassed people at a bar in Hawaii and stormed into a couple’s hotel room. Then there’s the series’ forerunner, Rowling, who has spent the past two years speaking out against her anti-trans views.

And Johnny Depp, who played the fantastic beasts the villainous Gellert Grindelwald in the second episode, left Dumbledore’s secrets when he was involved in domestic violence allegations made by his ex-wife, Amber Heard. (Depp was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen.)

Warner Bros. had a good story to tell with Matt Reeves The Batman, which surpassed the $750 million mark at the worldwide box office, including $365 million in domestic revenue and $386 million internationally. The film is the highest-grossing film of 2022 so far, and one of the biggest of the pandemic.

Other new offerings this weekend include Sony’s religious theme Father Stu, which tells the true story of a former boxer and two-fingered actor who becomes a priest. Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson and Jacki Weaver star. Wahlberg is also one of the film’s producers and has arranged some of the financing.

Father Stu open mid-week to take advantage of the non-schooling of children for the spring holidays. Sony is planning an $8 million five-day debut, including $5.7 million for the weekend itself.

The audiences who came to Father Stu certainly liked it, giving it an A CinemaScore and stellar exit polls. The film did the best among blue-collar crowds and also generated great interest in Helena, Montana, where Father Stu is from.

For the weekend itself, Father Stu ranked #5.

Among the remains, Paramount’s sonic the hedgehog 2 came in second on its second outing with $30 million as it broke the $100 million mark to finish Easter Sunday with a domestic total of $119.6 million and a solid 231.8 million dollars in the world.

Romantic action-adventure The lost city — also from Paramount — held up well with $6.5 million for a domestic total of $78.6 million and $99 million worldwide.

indie escape Everything everywhere all at once, from A24, rose to No. 4 as it expanded to a total of 2,200 locations. The film earned $6.2 million for a domestic tally of $17.7 million.

April 16, 8:45 a.m.. Updated with Friday numbers.
April 17, 8:55 a.m.. Updated with revised weekend numbers.