Wizarding World Casts 'Fantastic' Spell on Weekend Box Office

LOS ANGELES, CA -- The theatrical return of J.K. Rowling's wizarding world proved to be magical for the North American box office, with "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" dominating the weekend competition, according to final figures released Monday.

"Fantastic Beasts" earned $74.4 million between Friday and Sunday to claim the top spot in theaters, according to box-office tracker comScore.

The film easily ended the two-week dominance of "Doctor Strange," which fell to second place with $17.8 million. "Doctor Strange" has earned $181.6 million in its three weeks of release.

The animated "Trolls" was a close third with $17.4 million, giving it a three-week take of $116.2 million.

The sci-fi adventure "Arrival" placed fourth with $12.1 million, followed by the comedy "Almost Christmas" with $7.3 million.

Rounding out the top 10 films of the weekend were Mel Gibon's war epic "Hacksaw Ridge" ($6.7 million); "The Edge of Seventeen" ($4.7 million); "Bleed for This" ($2.4 million); "The Accountant" ($2.2 million); and "Shut In" ($1.6 million).

-- City News Service, photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures