神奇的野兽：邓布利多的秘密opened this past weekend in North America, and in a classic case of diminishing returns, it is the lowest-grossing opening weekend for the Wizarding World spin-off yet.It took in $43 million, with $150 million to date worldwide, for a total gross of $193 million (against a rumored $200 million budget).
This is the lowest opening for any Wizarding World movie, including the originalHarry Potterfranchise, and forFantastic Beasts, specifically, it shows audiences just aren’t interested in this particular story. In 2016,奇妙的野兽和在哪里找到它们以超过7400万美元的价格开放，这不是这个票房吞咽大片的时代的淘汰赛数字，但至少表现出对观众的好奇心Harry Potterexpansion pack. It has been downhill since, however, which shows that curiosity faded. Sure, the pandemic is still skewing factors, butDumbledorealso logged a B+ CinemaScore, which is not the be-all, end-all of data, but is a decent temperature check for how people feel walking out of a theater, and a B+ translates to, basically, indifference. People didn’t hate it, but they didn’t love it, either.
对于华纳兄弟来说，这是尤其棘手的消息，因为Dumbledore实际上是最好的Fantastic Beastsmovies, though that isn’t saying much because these movies have always been a mixed bag, and whileDumbledoreoffers the best story, it still has all the same problems of the other movies. The casting is great and Mads Mikkelsen plays Grindelwald like a real character with wants and goals and conflicts, and not just a cartoon character spewing spells in a silly voice, but the story of younger Dumbledore and Grindelwald just does not sit well with shy, silly Newt Scamander and his magical menagerie. It’s fundamentally two different things, and aFantastic Beasts特许经营应该是关于野兽的，而应该有一组单独的电影详细介绍邓布利多的历史。法西斯巫师和愚蠢的动物使一种不舒服的伙伴关系永远无法奏效。另外，我现在已经坐在其中三部电影中，这大大围绕着巫师阻止大屠杀的愿望，我对巫师世界的道德深感困惑。也许在制作更多这些电影之前就弄清楚了。
这将我们带到了房间的大象 - 杰克·罗琳（Jk Rowling）的（恐怖）个人政治以及这如何影响这一特许经营。很容易怪Dumbledore’s poor performance on her and how she has single-handedly made everythingHarry Potterdistasteful to so many, but again,Crimes of Grindelwald收入大量下降了Fantastic Beasts, which means people were already checking out of this franchise. But I don’t think declining box office and Rowling’s actions in the real world are entirely divorced. After all, she’s been going down the TERF path for years, so an argument can definitely be made that she has poisoned the well forFantastic Beasts从一开始就几乎。
如果您不相信有关联，请记住over 70% consumers prefer to spend money on things that align with their personal morals and values。This actually goes up the younger the consumer is. Less than 25% of Baby Boomers care about buying from brands that align with their values, but 50% of Gen X do, and 62% of Millennials do. There isn’t solid consumer data on Gen Z yet because they’re only just starting to emerge from college and into their buying power, but given how they are by far the most demonstratively progressive generation yet, you have to assume they will rate putting their money where their mouth is even higher than Millennials.
It's the confluence of these two factors that is killingFantastic Beasts。第一，这些电影不是很好，他们从未找到讲故事的凹槽和吸引观众。二，系列创作者用她的屏幕外政治毒害了井，并关闭了一代观众。罗琳（Rowling）的问题只是该系列已成为华纳兄弟（Warner Brothers）的Sh-t圣代（Sh-t Sundae）的樱桃，现在问题是他们向前迈进。这本来应该是五电影专营权，但考虑到华纳再次受到新管理人员的身份，这似乎不确定，他们将重新评估其当前资产和Fantastic Beastsis not a hitmaker.
But the Wizarding World itself, with all its merchandising and licensing opportunities—and with a film adaptation of被诅咒的孩子waiting in the wings, can I just say that Voldemort having a secret kid is some bad fanfic sh-t and a big clue Rowling doesn’t know how to expand her universe effectively?—is too lucrative to leave on a shelf. They might want to let it cool off for a while, at least in live action, and maybe get with their legal department and see what they can do to pry Rowling off direct involvement with future projects, as she is now a liability for the franchise, but there will continue to be newHarry Potterthings put into the world.
It’s just a matter of finding a story audiences will invest in. If it were me, I’d go back to the beginning. Look to the four founders of Hogwarts for inspiration, particularly the rift between Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin. You have Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw being best friends and trying to get this new school started when Godric and Salazar nearly ruin it for everyone, setting in motion events that will unfold over a thousand years. It’s inherently epic, and it’s only a sketched-out idea in the marginalia ofHarry Potter，因此您有很多可以使用特征和主题的空间。只需将JK Rowling拒之门外，因为她已经成为信天翁，如果有任何希望挽救巫师世界的希望，它就在于艺术与艺术家之间的界限。
