Fantastic Beasts 2: Box Office, Cast Changes & Cancellation

Few movie sequels have sparked as much debate as Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. With a $200 million budget and a worldwide haul of $654 million, it landed in an awkward spot—profitable but critically panned.

Release date: November 16, 2018 · Budget: $200 million · Worldwide box office: $654 million · Rotten Tomatoes score: 36% · IMDb rating: 6.5/10 · Runtime: 134 minutes

The table below lays out the key facts about Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — its production specs, box office performance, and critical reception side by side.

Is Fantastic Beasts 2 hit or flop?

Box office performance

• Worldwide gross: $654 million on a $200 million budget (Wikipedia (second film box office section))
• Domestic run (US & Canada): $159.6 million (Box Office Mojo (box office tracking service))
• Opening weekend in US/Canada: $62.2 million (IMDb (movie database))
• Projected global launch: between $253 million and $275 million (Deadline (industry trade publication))

Critical reception

• Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 36% (“Rotten”)
• Audience score: 58%
• IMDb rating: 6.5/10 (IMDb (movie database))
• CinemaScore: B+

Comparison to first film

• First film budget: ~$175 million, gross: ~$811.7 million (Wikipedia (first film box office section))
• Second film budget: $200 million, gross: $654 million
• Third film budget: $200 million, gross: ~$407.2 million (Wikipedia (third film box office section))

The pattern: each installment cost more and earned significantly less. The second film was technically profitable — it grossed 3.3× its production budget — but the downward trajectory was a clear red flag for the franchise’s long-term viability.

Why was Johnny Depp replaced as Grindelwald?

Johnny Depp’s legal controversies

• Depp lost a libel case against The Sun in 2020
• The court found that allegations of domestic violence were “substantially true”
• Warner Bros. asked Depp to resign on November 6, 2020 (TIME (news magazine))

Mads Mikkelsen as replacement

• Warner Bros. announced Mads Mikkelsen as the new Grindelwald on November 25, 2020 (Wikipedia (third film cast section))
• Depp had already shot three scenes for the third film; all were reshot with Mikkelsen
• Depp was paid his full salary for the role

Impact on the series

• Fan backlash divided the audience
• Mikkelsen’s portrayal was generally praised, but the recast created a tonal discontinuity
• The controversy contributed to declining interest in the franchise

The takeaway: the Depp departure was a forced creative reset that cost the series momentum at a critical moment. Without that disruption, the five-film plan might have felt more stable.

The implication: the recast, though well executed, deepened the franchise’s commercial decline.

Is Fantastic Beasts connected to Harry Potter?

Shared universe

• Fantastic Beasts is a prequel series set decades before Harry Potter events
• It expands the Wizarding World beyond Hogwarts and into 1920s–1940s global wizarding society

Timeline chronology

• First film: 1926 – Newt Scamander’s journey in New York
• Second film: 1927 – Grindelwald’s escape and rally in Paris
• Third film: late 1930s – Grindelwald’s rise to power

Key connecting characters

• Young Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) – appears in all three films
• Gellert Grindelwald – the dark wizard who will eventually be defeated by Dumbledore in 1945
• Nagini – revealed as a Maledictus (human who can turn into a snake permanently); she later becomes Voldemort’s Horcrux snake
• Credence Barebone – revealed to be Aurelius Dumbledore, a controversial addition to the lore

Why this matters: the prequel series was designed to flesh out characters only mentioned in the original books — but the introduction of Aurelius created a timeline paradox that angered many fans.

Is there a 4th Fantastic Beasts movie?

Planned five-film series

• Original announcement: five films covering the rise and fall of Grindelwald
• Screenplay by J.K. Rowling, all directed by David Yates

Announcement of Fantastic Beasts 4 and cancellation rumors

• Third film (Secrets of Dumbledore) released April 2022
• As of 2024, Warner Bros. has not greenlit Fantastic Beasts 4
• Reports suggest the series is on hold indefinitely (Screen Rant (entertainment analysis outlet))
• The Harry Potter HBO TV series was announced in 2023, shifting WB’s focus

Official status

• Warner Bros. has not issued a formal cancellation statement
• Director David Yates said in 2023: “We’re taking a breather”
• No cast members have been booked for a fourth film

The implication: the series is in limbo — not dead, but not alive. For all practical purposes, the ambitious five-film arc is unfinished.

Who actually killed Grindelwald?

Grindelwald’s death in Harry Potter canon

• In the books, Grindelwald is killed by Lord Voldemort in 1998 (Wikipedia (Deathly Hallows book page))
• Grindelwald refuses to reveal the Elder Wand’s location, taunting Voldemort
• Voldemort kills him in Nurmengard prison

Differences in film vs. book

• The scene is depicted in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010)
• The film shows Grindelwald facing Voldemort with defiance
• In the Fantastic Beasts timeline (1930s–1945), Grindelwald is still alive and active

The catch: we will likely never see the Grindelwald-Voldemort confrontation in the prequel series, because the series stalled before reaching the 1940s.

Is Voldemort alive during Fantastic Beasts?

Voldemort’s birth and age

• Tom Riddle (later Lord Voldemort) is born on December 31, 1926
• First Fantastic Beasts film is set in 1926 – Voldemort is a newborn
• By Secrets of Dumbledore (late 1930s), Voldemort is a child attending Hogwarts

Snape’s presence in the series

• Professor Snape is not alive during the Fantastic Beasts era – he was born in 1960
• Fans hoping to see young Snape will be disappointed

What this means: the prequel series exists in a completely different era than the Harry Potter books. The only major shared timeline event is Grindelwald’s eventual death — which happens 70 years after the last Fantastic Beasts film.

The consequence: Warner Bros. must decide whether to abandon the prequel timeline or reconfigure it around the upcoming HBO series.

Timeline of the Fantastic Beasts series

• 2016 – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them released (Wikipedia (first film page))
• 2018 – Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald released (Wikipedia (second film page))
• 2020 – Johnny Depp asked to resign from role (TIME (news magazine))
• 2022 – Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore released (Wikipedia (third film page))
• 2024 – Warner Bros. puts future installments on hold (Screen Rant (entertainment analysis outlet))

The pattern: the franchise’s release cadence collapsed after the third film, and no new project has entered active development.

What we know and what’s still unclear

Confirmed facts

• Fantastic Beasts 2 released in 2018 (Wikipedia (second film page))
• Johnny Depp replaced by Mads Mikkelsen for the third film (TIME (news magazine))
• Grindelwald killed by Voldemort in 1998 in the books (Wikipedia (Deathly Hallows book page))
• Voldemort born in 1926 (Wikipedia (Tom Riddle page))

What’s unclear

• Whether Fantastic Beasts 4 will ever be made (Screen Rant (entertainment analysis outlet))
• The exact fate of the five-film plan
• Whether Warner Bros. will release an official cancellation statement

“I’m a huge fan of Johnny. I think he’s a fantastic actor. I think he did something very iconic. But if I’m to do it, I have to make it my own.”

Mads Mikkelsen, on taking over the role of Grindelwald, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly (2021)

“We’re taking a breather. The story isn’t over, but we need to figure out the best way forward.”

David Yates, director of the Fantastic Beasts series, in a 2023 interview with Empire

The series that began with so much promise — expanding the Wizarding World beyond Hogwarts — now sits unfinished. For Warner Bros., the decision is clear: either commit to the remaining two films (at significant cost and risk) or officially close the chapter and focus on the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series. For fans, the trade-off is watching an ambitious prequel arc that will likely remain a tantalizing “what if.”

Frequently asked questions