When You Can Stream Fantastic Beasts 3 Revealed
It might be sooner than you expected!
This article is more than 2 years old
While there’s still time to see Fantastic Beasts 3 in theaters, it looks like you don’t have to wait much longer to see it at home instead. The movie is set to hit HBO Max on May 30th, so you can catch the latest entry to the Wizarding World from your couch instead of a theater seat. This continues the trend of Warner Bros feature films hitting the streaming platform 45 days after the theatrical release date.
Fantastic Beasts 3 picks up where the second movie left off, with the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald seeking to come to power in the wizarding world. Newt Scamander must team up with wizards, witches, and the muggle Jacob to stop his rise to power. We also get to see more of Jude Law’s younger Albus Dumbledore in this movie, though he is unable to join the battle due to a blood pact he made with Grindelwald many years before. The story of Credence Barebone, who was revealed to be Aurelius Dumbledore, is also continued.
Fantastic Beasts 3 hit some roadblocks on the way to its release. While Mad Mikkelsen brings some menace and class to the villain role of Gellert Grindelwald, he replaced Johnny Depp due to Depp’s legal battles. Ezra Miller, who plays Credence, has also had some legal troubles as of late. The involvement of the controversial J.K. Rowling has also caused fans to be apprehensive about the project. These factors may have helped contribute to Fantastic Beasts 3 having a pretty underwhelming box office showing.
In addition to Jude Law, Ezra Miller, and Mads Mikkelsen, Fantastic Beasts 3 also stars Eddie Redmayne, Dan Fogler, Katherine Waterson, Callum Turner, Alison Sudol, and more. JK Rowling and Steve Kloves wrote the script with David Yates directing. There are supposed to be more movies in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, with the studio planning for a fourth and fifth movie. However, green lighting these movies would depend on the performance of the most recent installment. With the mixed reception and the poor box office performance, it doesn’t seem too likely that Warner will be keen to move forward with further entries. Fantastic Beasts 3 does have a 47% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has an 83% from audiences. If the audiences like the movie enough, maybe it can help with the streaming numbers.
It’s always possible that Fantastic Beasts 3 will find a second life on streaming. It wouldn’t be the first time that a movie or show didn’t do well initially but found a bigger audience on home media. If the streaming numbers are impressive, it could be enough to convince the studios to pursue further entries into the franchise. HBO Max has recently made a bit of a Harry Potter content push, with the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts reunion special and shows like Harry Potter: Tournament of Houses and the Fantastic Beasts: A Natural History special. If you want to check out Fantastic Beasts 3 for yourself, you can catch it next week on HBO Max.
