The latest Harry Potter spinoff, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, hits theaters soon, but the movie will ultimately become available on HBO Max. Over eight installments, the Harry Potter film franchise hauled in well over $9 billion worldwide. With that in mind, Warner Bros. wanting to continue the franchise wasn't surprising. Unfortunately, the Fantastic Beasts spinoff series of movies hasn't turned out to be the grand return to the land of wizards that many hoped for, arguably containing more downs than ups at this point.
That's not to say that the Fantastic Beasts movies are widely despised, or that they don't have their fans, but anything approaching the level of popularity enjoyed by the adventures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione has yet to appear. That looks to possibly be the case with Fantastic Beasts 3, subtitled The Secrets of Dumbledore, as reviews going into stateside release day are mixed, and controversy continues to surround the firing and subsequent replacement of Johnny Depp as Grindelwald. There's also the fact that Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has become a bit of a pariah in recent years due to her personal views.
Still, millions of people do look forward to seeing Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, and Warner Bros. hopes that number is high enough to warrant the two further planned follow-ups in the series. However, those unable or unwilling to head to theaters to see Fantastic Beasts 3 are likely wondering when exactly they'll be able to stream the sequel at home on HBO Max. While an official release date has yet to be announced so far, Fantastic Beasts 3 will likely be added to the HBO Max streaming library on — or very close to — Sunday, May 29, 2022.
Many movie lovers are likely already missing 2021, when Warner Bros. saw fit to simultaneously release its new movies both in theaters and on HBO Max on the same day. While that day-and-date practice has ended, the studio has now instituted a 45-day window between a film's theatrical debut and its HBO Max streaming arrival. This new rule will be in effect for The Batman, which is set to join HBO Max exactly 45 days after its theatrical opening. By that same logic, May 29 is exactly 45 days after Fantastic Beasts 3 attempts a box office bewitching.
However, there is still a chance Fantastic Beasts 3 will not appear on HBO Max immediately at the 45 day mark, as Warner Bros. has left themselves some wiggle room there. While Warner Bros. movies are guaranteed to be in theaters for at least 45 days before being put on HBO Max, there is no language that mandates that the studio has to add them to the streaming service right away after that mark passes. That said, The Batman made big bucks in theaters, yet that didn't stop the Caped Crusader from making a quick transition to streaming on HBO Max. With Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore getting mixed reviews and looking likely to not perform as well as The Batman, there's even more incentive for Warner Bros. to put the movie on HBO Max as quickly as possible, to at least try and drive up new subscriptions.
