In just a few weeks, Warner Bros. will be releasing Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, which is the second entry in a planned five-film series that takes place decades prior to the events in Harry Potter. When the first film came out, it snagged a $74 million domestic opening and went on to make $814 million off its $180 million budget. While that may not be as good as most of the Potter films, it still is a hefty profit for the studio.

But how would a sequel fare for the franchise? According to Variety, the magical sequel is expected to take in somewhere between $65 million and $75 million. So, unless it really exceeds expectations on the upper end of things, it looks like it’s tracking to come in just under the original film in terms of the box office, though the outlet is stressing that’ll it’ll likely be more on par than far below.

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What has become clear in recent years is that overall critical and fan reception play key roles in determining overall box office reception. Even if this movie performs below or on par with that first film, if fans and critics love it much more than the first, there is a good chance it will outperform that first film by the end of its theatrical run. Similarly, if fans and critics hate it, you can expect the reverse. Yeah, it sounds logical, but that hasn’t always necessarily been the case. In an age where opinions are as accessible as ever, the word of mouth is truly important.

What do you think? Will Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald outperform its predecessor, or do you see a franchise of diminishing returns? Let us know your thoughts down below!

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald apparates into theaters on November 16, 2018.

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SOURCE: Variety