The beasts were fantastic and took the top spot: the third installment of J.K. Rowling’s series Fantastic Beasts won the weekend in Germany, one week ahead of its debut in neighboring Austria. But this was not the only good news for the box office.

There was only one new release that really succeeded but it did in a big way: Phantastische Tierwesen 3: Dumbledores Geheimnisse (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore) is well on its way to becoming the fifth film this year to break one million sold tickets. This weekend 810.000 fans flocked to the theater already. In the third part of the Harry Potter spin-off, Jude Law returns as Dumbledore, and magic zoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) once again comes up against his nemesis Gellert Grindelwald. After Johnny Depp got canceled, Mads Mikkelsen replaced him, and fans had to wait a long time to get their burning questions answered: will the final secrets of Albus Dumbledore be revealed? For instance, why is Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) really Aurelius Dumbledore, and how they are related? And all this while Grindelwald is trying to erect dictatorship over the muggle magicians, every non-magical being are regarded as below interest, an attitude he, unfortunately, shares with some of the magicians. Scamander is on the hunt for Grindelwald and again gets support from No-Maj Jacob (Dan Fogler) and his brother Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner). Also on hand are the extra-smart Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) who gets betrayed by her sister Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol) who decides to change sides and align herself with Grindelwald. There are a lot of new characters, among them Professor Eulalie „Lally“Hicks, played by Jessica Williams who teaches witchcraft and wizardry at the Ilvermorny School, where Tina learned her craft. Other new helpers are Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam) and Scamander’s assistant Bunty (Victoria Yeates). And then there’s the head of the magicians confederation Anton Vogel played by German actor Oliver Masucci. Reviews of the film hail this third part as the best one, surpassing even the original in high praise.

Last week’s number one, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and The Batman round out the top three. The biggest drop is Morbius – at almost 60 percent compared to its debut a week ago it joined the same freefall that seems to afflict the Marvel production almost everywhere. In the US, the film dropped 70 % and is regarded a flop. Die Gangster Gang remains in the fifth spot while the number six is the real surprise: Die Häschenschule – Jagd nach dem Goldenen Ei, an animated movie about bunnies climbed back up ten percent just in time for Easter, it seems.

The anime hit Jujutsu Kaisen O (Kazé Anime Nights) is in seventh, German super hit Wunderschön still in eighth with two action films, Uncharted and Ambulance taking the last two spots in the German top ten.

Germany reached an important benchmark this weekend with 1,53 million tickets and 14.2 million euros in the box office it surpassed a regular weekend before the pandemic by two percent. In Austria, the mark was even better with 17 percent above pre-pandemic times. And yes, unusually cold weather with snowfall in some regions surely contributed to this. The homemade film about locally famous and beloved caricaturist Manfred Deix, Rotzbub – Willkommen in Siegheilkirchen, took the number one spot in its third week, followed by The Batman, Die Gangster Gang, Uncharted, Die Häschenschule – Der Grosse Eierklau, Ambulance, Jackass Forever, Bergen, Der Wolf und der Löwe and Küss mich, Mistkerl! (The Hating Game).