JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts trample the Grinch at UK box office
News Line
Ukraine reports 5,276 new COVID-19 cases Zelensky: Every third Ukrainian considers road construction one of greatest achievements of 2021 Ukraine ready to implement Minsk agreements, but Russia's desire needed - Yermak Michel: EU unanimously agree to roll over economic sanctions against Russia Actions by Ukraine's partners will help prevent worst-case scenario - Zelensky COVID-19 in Ukraine: Health officials confirm 8,899 daily cases as of Dec 17 Macron tells Zelensky he declared support for Ukraine in call with Putin Zelensky, Scholz discuss gas transit through Ukraine after 2024 Ukraine ready for any format of talks with Russia - Zelensky Ukraine’s only journalist in Russia facing extremism charges - lawyer PM Shmyhal: First two applications for investment projects worth $96 million filed Zelensky, PM of Italy discuss security situation around Ukraine President signs off State Budget 2022 London considering all options for responding to Russia's aggression against Ukraine Putin, Biden to hold another round of talks Some 260,000 Ukrainians “victims of human trafficking” over 30 years - prosecutor general Ukraine plans to create center to protect energy infrastructure from cyber attacks No clear idea so far when Normandy Four top diplomats set to meet - German Ambassador Ukraine receives EUR 600M in macro-financial assistance from EU Zelensky holds phone conversation with PM of Israel Ukraine sets new daily COVID vaccination record MFA: European Union has not yet removed Ukraine from list of safe countries Kyiv records 1,023 new COVID-19 cases, 29 deaths G7 ambassadors welcome adoption of law on NABU status Ukraine can increase Covid vaccination rates to 1.5M a week – Liashko

The latest film from the wizarding world of JK Rowling has unsurprisingly debuted at the top of the UK box office, knocking aside The Grinch. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’s opening weekend take of £12.32m is the second biggest of the year so far, behind only Avengers: Infinity War’s £21.1m haul (or £29.4m including previews).

A couple of other 2018 releases – Black Panther and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – posted bigger debut numbers than the wizard film, but only thanks to the inclusion of preview takings. On like-for-like comparison, The Crimes of Grindelwald opened bigger than those two films.

Any celebrations for backers Warner Bros will be muted by the fact that the second Fantastic Beasts film is running behind the pace of the first. Exactly two years ago, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them kicked off with a nifty £15.3m, on its way to a total of £54.7m. If The Crimes of Grindelwald follows the same pattern as its predecessor, look for it to reach around £44m by the end of its run.