The Harry Potter franchise, aka the boy who lived, is showing a lot of kick for it's age. It grossed $75 million domestic & $143 million internationally. While some reviews were mixed it blew past the competition. In the end the battle of magicians was not even close. Dr Strange, after a good run of a couple of weeks, saw its magic taken over by Fantastic Beast. It grossed $17 million dollars. Next week Disney will seek to recapture its box office crown with the animated film, Moana. Can Fantastic Beast devour this challenge. Time will tell.


Spinnerrack ---Out!!!

Marvel took a gamble with Dr. Strange and ended up taking boat loads of money to the bank. To the tune of $500 million, as of this week. Doc Strange is undeniably a certified hit. The question now, is not whether the sorcerer supreme of Earth will get mowed down by the Fantastic Beast but how badly will it do.
I expect that the legions of loyal Harry Potter fans will show up and conjure up a Huge!!! opening weekend. With some estimates of a $90 million domestic box office.
There are many indicators showing that this will be the case.

Can the Master of the mystic arts survive this onslaught. My initial thought is that Marvel's Strange should be able to pull out a strong second place weekend, because they are targeting an older demographic than Harry Potter. Unfortunately for Marvel, I suspect that many more parents and kids who have grown up reading the Potter novels, casually or obsessively, will flock to the movie. I don't expect many parents to send their kids to see Fantastic Beasts, while they go to the Dr. Strange movie. I suspect they will all end up going to the same movie. Many may figure, that Harry Potter's Beast will be the magic movie they will see.

Hollywood once again has two large studio making movies that are being released close to one another with similar concepts, magic. There will be a winner and a loser. Meaning, this could spell the end of the Dr Strange's dominance.
I hope Marvel has racked up enough cash.