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Tag: The Secrets of Dumbledore

  • ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ Underperforms at Box Office

    ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ Underperforms at Box Office

    The Secrets of Dumbledore don’t appear to be all that fantastic.

    The third Fantastic Beasts film, The Secrets of Dumbledore, finally opened stateside this weekend. Unfortunately, for fans eager to see the franchise continue beyond the third film, hope may soon be dwindling. As it stands, the film is looking to open between $40-$45 million at the domestic box office following a $20 million Friday opening. A rather dismal number for such a huge blockbuster. It’s not performing much better overseas, either, having earned a bit more than $60 million internationally to date.

    The film, which cost $200 million, is on track to open well below the first two installments. For comparison’s sake, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opened to $76 million in 2016, while the second film, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, opened to $62 million in 2018. With the numbers continuing to decline, Warner Bros. seems hesitant to move forward with the previously announced fourth and fifth films in the franchise.

    Making matters worse, there’s plenty of behind-the-scenes drama surrounding these films. In recent years, franchise stars Johnny Depp and Ezra Miller have become just as famous for their actions outside of set. Depp, of course, is currently embroiled in a nasty legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard following domestic abuse allegations. He left the franchise after the second installment and the studio brought in the fantastic Mads Mikkelsen to replace him. While Miller has been in the tabloids for his physical actions against various people in public. There’s also the matter of J.K. Rowling and her anti-trans views. Needless to say, the Fantastic Beasts franchise will be lucky to regain any of the magic it once held for Harry Potter fans.

    Source: THR.

  • LGBTQ References Cut from ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ for Chinese Release

    LGBTQ References Cut from ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ for Chinese Release

    There’s been quite the controversy surrounding the way film production studios have handled their international releases. As China remains a strong supporter of the international box office gross–even if recent numbers have been adding some questions regarding its profitability–studios have adapted their films for a release in the Middle Kingdom. Of course, they have very strict guidelines and only allow a certain amount of films into the country. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was among the lucky candidates, but it looks like it came at a cost.

    Warner Bros. has cut the LGBTQ references in its film so that it can release the film in China. While supposedly they only cut six seconds of dialogue, which includes the lines “because I was in love with you” and “the summer Gellert and I fell in love.” Fantastic Beasts didn’t make a secret of the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but it seems the studio still decided to move forward with adopting the film for that release. Warner Bros. has released a statement on their decision:

    As a studio, we’re committed to safeguarding the integrity of every film we release, and that extends to circumstances that necessitate making nuanced cuts in order to respond sensitively to a variety of in-market factors. Our hope is to release our features worldwide as released by their creators but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets.

    There have been many accusations of studios deliberately keeping LGBTQ references to a minimum so that they are easy to edit out for specific markets, which forbid it. Some films have stood by their productions, such as Marvel Studio’s sticking to its guns to not adapting their release of Eternals, which has an openly gay character, to stay true to the story and its director’s vision. Yet, Disney has also been in the spotlight for censoring or generally pushing back on LGBTQ elements planned for Pixar releases. In the case of Fantastic Beasts, Warner Bros. moved ahead with the adaptation but the film ended up opening at a lower box office in the market than its two predecessors.

    Source: The Guardian

  • First ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’ Teaser Offers First Look at Mads Mikkelsen as Grindelwald

    First ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’ Teaser Offers First Look at Mads Mikkelsen as Grindelwald

    It was over a year ago that we heard the first rumblings that Johnny Depp was getting replaced in the third entry of the Fantastic Beasts franchise. After making his debut as Grindelwald, he exited the project after production had already begun. Mads Mikkelsen took over the role shortly after. Not too long ago, we got the title of the third entry The Secrets of Dumbledore and we finally got our first look at the entry. While it’s not the fault trailer just yet – that’s eyeing a Monday release – we did get our first look at Mikkelsen as the series main antagonist.

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    It’s uncertain what exactly is happening in this sequence, as it seems like he’s being cheered on or even grabbed by a massive group of people. The character has quite a different design from the previous entries, as his bleached white hair is gone with only a slither left behind. His outfit also seems a bit more reserved from Depp‘s take on the character. It’ll b einteresting to see how they tackle the transformation, as it may play similar to how he was revealed in the first one.

    Source: Twitter