This article contains one or more duplicated citations. The reason given is: DuplicateReferences script detected: (November 2025)
|
This article may incorporate text from a large language model .(September 2025) |
| Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore | |
|---|---|
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | David Yates |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | Characters by J. K. Rowling |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | George Richmond |
| Edited by | Mark Day |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 142 minutes [1] |
| Countries | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $200 million [2] |
| Box office | $407.2 million [3] |
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is a 2022 fantasy film directed by David Yates from an screenplay by J. K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, based on characters by Rowling. The sequel to Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), it is the third and final instalment in the Fantastic Beasts film series and the eleventh overall in the Wizarding World franchise. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams, Katherine Waterston, and Mads Mikkelsen. Set five years after the events of its predecessor, the film sees Albus Dumbledore tasking Newt Scamander and his allies with a mission that takes them into the heart of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald's army.
The film was slated for release in November 2021, before it was pushed back to April 2022 due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Much of the main cast from the first two films confirmed their involvement in March 2020. Principal photography was set to begin in early 2020, [4] but was postponed due to the epidemic, [5] eventually commencing in September 2020. [6] Johnny Depp returned as Grindelwald and filmed one scene for this film, but was asked to step down in November 2020 following the verdict of the Depp v News Group Newspapers Ltd court case; Mads Mikkelson replaced him later that month. Filming took place until February 2021.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore premiered at the Royal Festival Hall in London on March 29 2022, and was released internationally on April 14, 2022; [7] and in the United States on April 15, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $407 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing film in the Wizarding World franchise. The Secrets of Dumbledore was the last film in the Wizarding World franchise for which Stuart Craig served as production designer, before his death in 2025. [8] [9]
Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald briefly meet in a Muggle teashop, where they acknowledge their mutual feelings. Grindelwald vows to destroy the Muggle world, but Dumbledore calls the plan madness, saying he only supported it because he was in love with him.
In Kweilin; prefecture of China, Newt Scamander helps a qilin — a magical creature that can see into one's soul as well as the future — give birth. [10] Not long after, Credence Apparates in, and leads Rosier and Carrow to attack and kill the mother and kidnap the newborn. Unbeknownst to them, the qilin gave birth to another baby. Newt saves this young qilin before collapsing of exhaustion. A wyvern from his travelling suitcase flies them all away.
Grindelwald's acolytes arrive to Nurmengard, and gives Grindelwald the qilin. Intending to harness its ability of precognition, he kills the qilin. Queenie Goldstein surreptitiously observes his actions with shock.
Newt and his brother Theseus arrive in Hogsmeade to meet Albus, and they also meet his brother, Aberforth Dumbledore. Albus tells them that he can't battle Grindelwald due to the blood troth that he and Grindelwald created. If Albus so much as thinks of any malicious thoughts against him, the amulet would strangle and kill Albus.
Later, Queenie talks with Credence who reveals that he is a Dumbledore, and that she isn't telling Grindelwald everything. Meanwhile, Jacob Kowalski is continuing with his life as a baker and meets Ilvermorny Charms teacher Lally Hicks, who recruits him. Using a book as a portkey, they travel to a Berlin-bound train to join Newt, Newt's brother and Auror Theseus, Senegalese-French wizard Yusuf Kama, and Newt's assistant Bunty Broadacre. Tina Goldstein is very busy with heading up the Ministry of Magic and cannot join them. Newt relays Dumbledore's plan to defeat Grindelwald to them. He gives Jacob a fake wand, a red and gold tie to Theseus, a book to Lally, and Bunty, a note for her eyes only.
In Berlin, despite Newt's attempt to persuade him into doing otherwise on Albus's behalf, the outgoing Supreme Head of the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW), Anton Vogel, acquits Grindelwald of all previous criminal charges. This will allow him to run in the elections for the head of the ICW in a three-way competition against Vicência Santos and Liu Tao.
Grindelwald and his acolytes have already infiltrated and undermined the German Ministry of Magic and they arrest Theseus. Dumbledore apparates into Berlin and dispatches Newt to the Erkstag, the secret German wizarding prison where Theseus is held.
Bunty goes off to have Newt's suitcase copied with six identical ones. Yusuf is planted as an spy in Grindelwald's inner circle. Grindelwald has Queenie use her legilimency to test Yusuf's trustworthiness, and believes her validation.
Credence tracks down Albus and battles him in the streets of Berlin, but is quickly disarmed by Albus, who is much more powerful. Albus reveals to Credence that he is a Dumbledore, the son of his brother, Aberforth, and he starts to question his loyalty to Grindelwald.
Newt arrives to the Erkstag prison, where Theseus is held. Meanwhile, Grindelwald plots to assassinate the competing Brazilian candidate, Santos, by drinking a poisoned cup of wine. Lally saves her; throwing the poison to the wall, and Jacob threatens Grindelwald with his wand to let Queenie go. Jacob is mistaken for an assassin, and in the ensuing chaos, Lally charms him to make him look like he is casting a storm charm that makes everyone leave. Helmut, a German auror, tries to catch him, but Lally uses Dumbledore's book portkey and they escape.
When Newt rescues Theseus, they encounter a swarm of baby manticores. Newt and Theseus are able to tame them by dancing until a giant manticore starts attacking them all and grabs Theseus. With the help of Pickett and Teddy, Newt saves him with a tie portkey, transporting them to Hogwarts.
Newt and Theseus meet with Albus, Lally, Jacob and Minerva McGonagall at Hogwarts; and Albus shows them their next location, Bhutan. Later, they eat in Hogsmeade and the qilin bows to Jacob, which Lally explains that the qilin bows if someone is pure of heart.
Using necromancy, Grindelwald reanimates the dead qilin and charms it to bow to him to steal the election. Knowing that there was another qilin, gives Credence a last chance to redeem himself by destroying it.
To thwart Grindelwald's cohorts, each ally of Dumbledore carries an identical suitcase, with only one containing the qilin. The team travel one by one, each with a duplicate suitcase, via a portkey to the ICW vote in Bhutan.
On arrival, they are followed and confronted by Grindelwald's followers. Lally and Theseus fight with some of them until Helmut arrives and open their cases that had Quidditch balls and books with teeth. Meanwhile, Albus and Jacob leave their case with pastries that rapidly multiply when one of Grindelwald's followers opens it.
Jacob convinces Queenie to come back from Grindelwald, but they are caught. Newt meets with Henrietta Fischer, Vogel's secretary, and she tells him that she is with Dumbledore and tries to take his case. Newt doesn't trust her and resists giving it to her, but is stunned by Zabini, another Grindelwald follower.
Yusuf Kama reunites with the team after stunning some Grindelwald followers. When Newt wakes up, he tries to catch Fischer, who gives him back the suitcase, but it vanishes. At the election, the qilin that Grindelwald charms bows to him and he is elected as the new Head of the ICW, which he subsequently declares war on all Muggles and tortures Jacob with the Cruciatus curse.
Credence arrives and reveals that Grindelwald's qilin is dead. Bunty, who has the real suitcase, produces the surviving qilin. The election is thereby voided and a new, fair election can occur. The living qilin passes by Grindelwald and bows to Albus Dumbledore. Shocked, Albus thanks the qilin for the honour, but convinces it that there is another equally worthy.
Enraged, Grindelwald tries to kill Credence, who is simultaneously protected by Aberforth and Albus. As an act of defense of Credence, Dumbledore's and Grindelwald's clashing spells break the blood pact, and they fight each other. When they finish, the qilin bows to Santos, who is then elected as the new Head of the ICW. Grindelwald is cornered by everyone, and he protects himself in a bubble saying that he was never their enemy, and disapparates.
In the aftermath, Aberforth accepts the dying Credence as his son and takes him home. [11] In New York City; at Jacob's bakery, Jacob and Queenie have an small wedding ceremony with a few guests. While preparing his speech, Newt steps outside as Tina arrives and spots Albus Dumbledore watching from across the street. Dumbledore thanks Newt before disappearing into the night.
Other cast members include Maria Fernanda Cândido as Vicência Santos and Dave Wong as Liu Tao, both candidates for the post of Supreme Leader of the ICW; Aleksandr Kuznetsov as Helmut, an Auror of the German Ministry of Magic; [18] and Valerie Pachner as Henrietta Fischer, secretary for the German Minister of Magic. [19]
In minor and one-scene roles, Cara Mahoney as Waitress, a woman who attends Albus in a teashop; Maja Bloom as Carrow, a Grindelwald follower; Wilf Scolding as Frank Doyle/Workman, a relative of Lally; Paul Low-Hang as Zabini, a Grindelwald follower; Peter Simonischek as Warder, a guard of the Erkstag prison; Matthias Brenner as Otto, a leather craftsman; Kazeem Tosin Amore as Workman 2, Noor Dillan-Night as Workman 3, Manuel Klein as Tall Auror, Jan Pohl as Ministry Official, Jacqueline Boatswain as Ida Webb, a British witch and member of the International Confederation of Wizards; Ramona Kunze-Libnow as Edith, a woman who welcomes Lally and Jacob in the Candidates Dinner; David Bertrand as Victor, a wizard who works with Vogel, Stefan Race as Karl, a dark-eyed waiter; Sean Talo as Ministry Wizard, Dónal Finn as Albert, a baker who works with Jacob, Jeremy Azis as German Muggle 24, Jessica Cartledge as "red-headed Ravenclaw", Radha Sthanakiya as "tiny witch 1", Isabelle Coverdale as "tiny witch 2", and Emilia Karlsson as Ministry Guest.
In October 2014, Warner Bros. Pictures announced the film as "at least" a trilogy with the third instalment to be released on 20 November 2020. [20] [21] In July 2016, director David Yates confirmed that J. K. Rowling had ideas for the third film's screenplay. [22] In October 2016, it was reported that the Fantastic Beasts film series would comprise five films, and Eddie Redmayne would be returning to all films to play the lead role of Newt Scamander, with producers Rowling, David Heyman, Steve Kloves, and Lionel Wigram. [23] In November 2016, Yates revealed that he would be directing all five films, stating "I love making films, and I've got a great team, all of whom are like family." [24]
In October 2018, Johnny Depp hinted that he might return to portray Gellert Grindelwald for the third film, which would start filming in mid-2019. [25]
On 7 February 2019, it was revealed the film would be set in the 1930s, with the story leading up to the Wizarding World's involvement in World War II and exploring the magical communities in Bhutan, Germany and China in addition to previously established locations including the United States and United Kingdom. [26] [27] In November 2019, Warner Bros. put out a press release announcing the film's location of Brazil, a spring 2020 start of production, and that Steve Kloves, who had previously served as screenwriter on the Harry Potter films, had joined the project as co-writer. [28] [29]
In March 2020, Jude Law, Johnny Depp, Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Callum Turner, Katherine Waterston, Claudia Kim [30] and Jessica Williams were revealed to be reprising their roles from previous films, alongside Eddie Redmayne. [31] Kevin Guthrie, who played Abernathy in the first two instalments, was set to return but was fired before production began due to his trial and eventual conviction in a sexual assault case. [32] [33] In November 2020, Depp announced he would not reprise his role as Grindelwald after being asked by Warner Bros. to resign due to negative publicity resulting from the libel case Depp v News Group Newspapers Ltd . [34] Depp shot only three scenes in London after production began in September 2020, and his contract stipulated that he be paid regardless of whether the film was completed or not. [35] Depp's salary was reportedly somewhere between $10–16 million. [36] On 25 November, Warner Bros. announced that Mads Mikkelsen would replace Depp in the role of Grindelwald. [14] [37] [38] Mikkelsen opted not to emulate Depp's performance, stating in an interview that it would be "creative suicide", but acknowledged that there still needed to be "some sort of bridge between what came before." [39]
Filming officially commenced in London in September, [40] with safety precautions in place to keep the cast and crew safe from COVID-19. [6] On 3 February 2021, filming at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in the UK was halted after a crew member tested positive for COVID-19. [41] [42] [43] Composer James Newton Howard confirmed later that month that production had wrapped filming. [44] Although the film is partially set in Berlin and Bhutan, it was not filmed on location. These areas were reimagined and reconstructed on the vast backlot and sound stages of Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, augmented by visual effects, led by production VFX supervisor Christian Manz. [45] [46]
Composer James Newton Howard returned to compose the film's score after previously scoring Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald , whilst also incorporating John Williams's themes from the Harry Potter films into the score.
The film marketing campaign began in September 2021, the same day the title was announced as Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. [47] On 10 December 2021, a sizzle reel promo was released by Warner Bros. Pictures to celebrate the Wizarding World's twentieth anniversary, showing clips from previous films and events of the franchise and ending with a quick teaser for the film, while also announcing that a full trailer would be released the following Monday. [48] The film's official trailer was officially released on 13 December 2021, with a teaser poster being released the following week. [49] [50] On 22 February 2022, 18 posters featuring characters from the film were released online. [51] A second trailer was announced to be released on Thursday, 24 February 2022 by actor Jude Law through the film's social media, but was later delayed. [52] The trailer was eventually released on 28 February, along with the official poster for the film. [53] [54] The official hardcover screenplay was scheduled to be released on 19 July 2022, three months after the film's theatrical release. [55]
Warner Bros spent over $21 million in television advertisement and promotion merchandise, with the film generating over 958 million impressions on airing channels NBC, ABC, TBS, CBS, and SyFy during the March Madness, Winter Olympics, NBA games and other sports and events. The film was one of the many merchandise that includes Warner Bros. Consumer Products's limited edition art prints from MinaLima calling Harry Potter: The Exhibition, Insight Editions' Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore: Movie Magic, Wizarding World's Niffler Figure with 1 card, Hot Topic's casual clothes and t-shirts, LeSportsac's bag and accessories, Build-A-Bear Workshop's character plushy that includes Niffler, Bowtruckle and more, and Funko Pop's action figure out of characters based on the film. [56] Warner's international YouTube channels received 125.1 million views from Indonesia, Brazil, Ireland, UK, Spain and more countries for the film's promotional material, and was one of the strong viral reposting rates with 18:1. [57]
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore premiered at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 29 March 2022. [58] [59] It was first released to cinemas in Belgium and the Netherlands on 6 April 2022, followed by other European countries, Australia, China, and Japan through 8 April, [60] the United States and Argentina on 15 April, and the Philippines on 16 April. In the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Lebanon, the film was released on 28 April 2022. The Secrets of Dumbledore was made available to stream on HBO Max on 30 May 2022. [61]
The film was initially scheduled to be released on 12 November 2021, [62] but following Depp's departure, his role's recasting with Mikkelsen and the COVID-19 epidemic, Warner Bros. shifted the release to 15 July 2022. [63] [64] In September 2021, the film's release was pushed forward three months early to 15 April 2022. [47] It was later announced that the film would be released a week earlier in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 8 April 2022. [65]
The Secrets of Dumbledore is the first Wizarding World film to openly address Dumbledore's sexuality, depicting him and Grindelwald as having been lovers. Although Rowling firmly stated in 2007 that Dumbledore was gay, none of the novels in the franchise ever mentioned this. The two dialogues in the film referencing Dumbledore's homosexuality were censored for the film's release in China. [66] [67]
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was released for digital download on 30 May 2022, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on 28 June 2022. [68] Over its first month of streaming in HBO Max, the film was streamed in an estimated eight million households. [69]
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore grossed $95.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $311.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $407.2 million. [70] [3]
In the United States and Canada, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was projected to gross around $40 million from 4,200 theatres in its opening weekend. [71] [72] The film made $20 million on its first day, including $6 million on the Thursday night previews. [73] It went on to debut to $42.2 million, [74] topping the box office but marking the lowest opening of the Wizarding World franchise. Women over 25 (38%) were the largest demographic, followed by men over 25 (33%). [57] The film grossed $14 million in its second weekend, dropping 67% and finishing in third place behind Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and The Bad Guys [75] marking the second-worst second weekend drop for the Wizarding World franchise after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 saw a 72% second weekend drop in 2011. [76]
Outside the U.S. and Canada, the film earned $56.9 million from 22 international markets in its opening weekend. In Germany, the film's $9.2 million debut was the best opening for Warner Bros. since 2019's Joker . [77] The film made $71.7 million in its second weekend. This included openings of $7.1 million in both France and Mexico, the latter of which was the second-biggest opening for Warner Bros. during the pandemic. [78] It added $38.3 million in its third international weekend, crossing the $200 million worldwide mark. [79] It crossed the $300 million mark in its fourth weekend. [80]
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2022) |
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 46% based on 248 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critics consensus states: "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore avoids some of the pitfalls that plagued its predecessor, but lacks much of the magic that drew audiences into the Wizarding World many movies ago." [81] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 49 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews [82] and marking the lowest score on the site for a Wizarding World film. [83] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, tied for the lowest of the franchise with The Crimes of Grindelwald, while those at PostTrak gave it an 81% positive score, with 63% saying they would definitely recommend it. [57]
A particular focus of praise from some reviews was that Mads Mikkelsen outperformed Johnny Depp in the role of Grindelwald. [84] [85] [86]
| Award | Date of the ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturn Awards | 25 October 2022 | Best Fantasy Film | Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore | Nominated | [87] |
| Visual Effects Society | 15 February 2023 | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature | Christian Manz, Olly Young, Benjamin Loch, Stephane Naze, and Alistair Williams | Nominated | [88] |
| Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature | Jesse Parker Holmes, Grayden Solman, Toyokazu Hirai, and Rob Richardson | Nominated |
The Fantastic Beasts film series was initially speculated to be a trilogy, but in October 2016, Rowling announced that the series would be composed of five films, [89] later confirming that the story of the series would consist of a sequence of events that occurred between 1926 and 1945. [90] In February 2022, producer David Heyman revealed that work on the script for a fourth film had not yet begun. [91] In April 2022, Variety reported that Warner Bros. greenlighting the final two instalments would be dependent on the critical and commercial performance of The Secrets of Dumbledore. [92] [93] Mikkelsen believed that Depp could return as Grindelwald in another film. [94] [95]
In November 2022, Variety reported that Warner Bros. Discovery was not actively planning to continue the Fantastic Beasts series or develop further films in the Wizarding World franchise. [96] [97] [98] [99] [100] In October 2023, Yates made comments that the series had been "parked", while also disclosing that the idea of it being a five-film series had been a "surprise" after many had only initially committed to doing a single film. [101] [102] In October 2024, Redmayne stated that The Secrets of Dumbledore was likely to be the last Fantastic Beasts film, pointing to the Universal Orlando Resort attraction in Florida as the next place to feature Newt. [103] In the same month, Law also stated he did not foresee more films being made, citing Warner Bros. focusing on the development of the forthcoming Harry Potter television series. [104]
{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)