Game Of Box Offices: “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald” conjures up a first place finish at the Box Office

Stepping back into the world J.K. Rowling created, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald” easily took the Crown this weekend, earning $62.1 million in its opening weekend, which is a slight step down from the $70 million it had projected. The average of $14,932 per 4,163 screens was enough to give it the POPCORN AWARD within the Top 25, while the Van Gogh film “At Eternity’s Gate,” which didn’t crack the Top 25 earned an average of $23,214 in only four theaters, giving it the actual first place average win of the weekend. Last weekend’s crown winner “The Grinch” took the second place position this weekend with $38.5 million while “Bohemian Rhapsody” took third with $16 million in its third weekend. “Instant Family” fell slightly short of its $18 million projection, landing at $14.5 million for fourth place and Steve McQueen’s “Widows” fell short of its $15.5 million opening, landing at $12.3 million, rounding out the Top Five. Surprising in the Top Ten this weekend, “Burn The Stage: The Movie” cracked it with a $2.4 million opening, as the film took a look at the South Korean boy band behind the scenes of their latest tour. “Green Book” also debuted on the List, landing at Number 22, playing in only 25 theaters.

“A Private War” took the GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD with an increase of +256.9%, moving it from Number 28 last weekend to Number 16 this weekend. “Boy Erased” had an uptick of +74.6% in its third weekend, adding +332 screens, moving it up six spots. The only other title to move up this weekend was “The House With A Clock Its Walls,” which had actually been predicted to fall off the list, but instead, it jumped up a spot to Number 24. You can bet this will be its final week on the List. Although the rest of the List was filled with decreases, seven films actually fell five spots or more. “Overlord” in its second weekend and “The Hate U Give” in its seventh both fell exactly five spots, while “Night School” in its eighth weekend and “Beautiful Boy” in its sixth weekend both fell six spots. “First Man,” which is still underperforming in its sixth weekend, fell seven spots. “Halloween” fell eight spots in its fifth weekend as we’ve officially excited the Halloween season and headed into Thanksgiving. But the big loser on the List this weekend which was one spot away from a BOMB was “Smallfoot,” which dropped nine spots from Number 11 to Number 20. With “Ralph Breaks The Internet” opening this weekend, I could easily see “Smallfoot” taking the final plunge. Taking the final plunge this weekend was “Hunter Killer,” which BOMB’d last weekend, “Johnny English Strikes Again,” which almost BOMB’d last weekend, and “Suspiria” all of which were in their fourth weekends. As predicted, “Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween” met the end of its holiday appeal and Jonah Hill’s low budget “Mid90s” also fell off in its fifth weekend. Newcomer last weekend “Thugs of Hindustan” did not show up on the List, so it was assumed that it closed off the Top 25 as well.

With the Thanksgiving weekend approaching, expect the Box Offices numbers to fill out a bit more than they have the past few months. “Ralph Breaks The Internet” should break the Box Office with a healthy $50 million weekend while “Creed II” will be duking it out for second place, rallying for a $34 million debut. “Robin Hood” will likely only aim for $10 million, putting it well behind “Fantastic Beasts” and “The Grinch,” leaving it to fight for a fifth place finish. “Green Book” will be expanding to a wide release this weekend as well, so expect it to jet up to the $5.5 million mark. Awards contenders “The Favourite” and “Roma” will also see some screens this weekend and could easily crack the List, likely eyeing that POPCORN AWARD. Making room for these titles, as mentioned, expect “The House With A Clock In Its Walls” to meet its demise, followed closely by “Smallfoot,” which could lose most of its family audiences to “Ralph.” “The Old Man & the Gun” is in the Number 25 spot this week, so I can easily see that one taking the final step off the List, as well as the final nail in the coffin of “First Man” and its box office run, at least until Oscar nominations are released in the New Year. “Night School” could also be on its way out, after a dismal showing this week, but “Halloween” and its near BOMB could also spell the end for that film as well.

BOX OFFICE KING: “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald”
BOX OFFICE QUEEN: “The Grinch”
POPCORN AWARD*: “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald”
GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD**: “A Private War”

#	Title	Weekend	Total	Budget	Week	LW	CH
1	Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (WB)	$62,163,104	($62,163,104)	$200m	1st	N
2	The Grinch (Uni)	$38,587,130	($126,963,410)	$75m	2nd	#1
3	Bohemian Rhapsody (Fox)	$16,042,965	($128,228,824)	$52m	3rd	#2
4	Instant Family (Par)	$14,504,315	($14,504,315)	$48m	1st	N
5	Widows (Fox)	$12,361,307	($12,361,307)	$42m	1st	N
6	The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (BV)	$4,772,950	($43,965,640)	$120m	3rd	#4
7	A Star Is Born (WB)	$4,293,663	($185,784,570)	$36m	7th	#5
8	Overlord (Par)	$3,790,251	($17,683,140)	$38m	2nd	#3
9	The Girl in the Spider’s Web (Sony)	$2,501,616	($13,292,139)	$43m	2nd	#6
10	Burn the Stage: The Movie (Trafalgar)	$2,412,498	($3,636,203)	**	1st	N
11	Nobody’s Fool (Par)	$2,216,073	($28,843,691)	$19m	3rd	#7
12	Venom (Sony)	$1,976,625	($210,077,668)	$100m	7th	#8
13	Boy Erased (Focus)	$1,323,832	($2,675,782)	**	3rd	#19
14	Can You Ever Forgive Me? (FoxS)	$893,180	($5,071,365)	**	5th	#13
15	The Hate U Give (Fox)	$780,051	($28,223,244)	$23m	7th	#10
16	A Private War (Aviron)	$701,589	($1,068,110)	**	3rd	**
17	Halloween (2018) (Uni)	$699,185	($158,795,325)	$10m	5th	#9
18	Beautiful Boy (2018) (Amazon)	$582,263	($6,401,267)	$25m*	6th	#12
19	Free Solo (NGE)	$467,510	($8,935,993)	**	8th	#18
20	Smallfoot (WB)	$423,604	($81,356,772)	$80m*	8th	#11
21	Night School (Uni)	$333,325	($76,600,015)	$29m	8th	#15
22	Green Book (Uni)	$320,429	($320,429)	$23m*	1st	N
23	First Man (Uni)	$243,790	($44,345,100)	$59m	6th	#16
24	The House With A Clock In Its Walls (Uni)	$172,855	($68,074,030)	$42m	9th	#25
25	The Old Man & the Gun	$163,773	($10,614,566)	**	8th	#21

<<<ALL DOMESTIC NUMBERS FROM BOX OFFICE MOJO>>>>

OFF THE CHARTS THIS WEEK

(OFFICIALLY CLOSED)

*POPCORN AWARD goes to the highest per theater average within the Top 25 List
**GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD goes to the highest increase within the Top 25 List