Fantastic Beasts appears to be the monkey's paw of film franchises for Warner Bros. What started as a stroke of genius, bringing the world of Harry Potter back to the big screen, has only continued to drown under controversy and disappointing box office returns. From writer J.K. Rowling's blatant transphobia to Johnny Depp's casting and subsequent recasting to one of the franchise's stars getting arrested mere weeks before the premiere of the latest installment, it seems the studio can't catch a break.
Originally envisioned by Rowling to be a five-film saga, everything seemed to be smooth sailing with the generally positive reaction and box office success of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. However, two years later, The Crimes of Grindelwald was released with mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and a franchise-low box office haul. Immediately, Warner Bros. went to course-correct -- putting the third installment on hold and bringing back Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves to co-write the screenplay with Rowling. It seems Warner Bros. is currently waiting to see how The Secrets of Dumbledore performs before green lighting the fourth and fifth films, with producer David Heyman confirming in February 2022 that work on a script for the fourth film had yet to start.
It appears that Warner Bros.' measures to turn the fortune of Fantastic Beasts around have been in vain -- the latest installment has had a mixed reaction from critics, and the film's box office fortunes are not looking good either. During its international rollout last weekend, it earned around half of what the previous film achieved in like-for-like markets, and BoxOfficePro is predicting a franchise-low domestic opening weekend of $44 million. Bar a miracle, it appears that this is the end of the road for the Fantastic Beasts films. However, there may be hope for the Wizarding World yet.
The best direction these films should go in is to tell smaller-scale, individual stories that can stand on their own without the need for multi-film arcs. In other words, Warner Bros. should really consider individual spinoffs that do not rely so heavily on pre-existing Potter lore and can be entertaining stories in their own right. The biggest mistake made by the first Fantastic Beasts film was deviating so sharply from its endearing premise of Newt accidentally releasing a case full of magical creatures in New York. What could have been the perfect mix of Pokémon and Harry Potter instead became set up for a sequel that, ultimately, audiences did not care for.
Shifting the focus to individual spinoffs can allow for greater creative freedom and a chance to move away from the stagnating well these films have become. David Yates is an excellent director, but his grey aesthetic that defined the later Harry Potter films is choking Fantastic Beasts with visuals that undermine the magic and wonder of this world. Perhaps it is also time for Rowling to also step away; the creative direction of this franchise is marred by her bigoted views. It might be time for a new voice to take the story in a bold, new direction where Dumbledore and Grindelwald's romantic relationship could be explored in such a way that isn't boiled down to six seconds of easy-to-cut dialogue.
It isn't sustainable for Warner Bros. to keep throwing $200 million+ at this franchise, and no one is more aware of that than the studio itself. However, there is merit in making lower-budget spinoffs that don't need to set the world on fire to be successful. Both Uncharted and Sonic the Hedgehog show the potential in smartly budgeted $90-$120 million blockbusters. Neither broke $400 million worldwide, yet both were considered huge success stories. Meanwhile, The Crimes of Grindelwald with its $655 million worldwide was considered enough of a disappointment for Warner Bros. to course correct to The Secrets of Dumbledore, and it's looking like it was not enough to save the failing franchise.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is now playing in theaters.