“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the latest spinoff of the Harry Potter movie franchise from Warner Bros., opened as the top film in North American theaters this weekend, toppling “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” after just one week atop the standings.

The third installment of the “Fantastic Beasts” series, brought in $43 million in weekend sales in the U.S. and Canada, industry researcher Comscore Inc. said Sunday in an email. Boxoffice Pro was forecasting $44.1 million in sales for the extended Easter holiday weekend. The film follows zoologist Newt Scamander and his battle against a dark wizard.

“Sonic 2,” which became the highest-grossing kids movie of the pandemic era last weekend, took in $30 million to place second for theaters and its distributor, Paramount Pictures.

The quirky sci-fi release “Everything Everywhere All at Once” brought in $6.2 million to land in fourth place.

Just over half of critics recommended the latest “Fantastic Beasts,” according to review aggregator site RottenTomatoes.com, topping its predecessor, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” The latest fantasy stars Eddie Redmayne as a wizard who studies magical creatures. Jude Law plays Albus Dumbledore.

“Fantastic Beasts” is the kind of attention-grabbing, family-friendly films that studios now deem worthy of theatrical releases. But some outliers have managed to resonate with theatergoers. “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” an indie film with a modest budget, expanded to 2,200 theaters.

Each installment of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise has generated less in its opening weekend than the film before it. In 2016, the original “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” took in more than $74 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters in its opening weekend, while the 2018’s “Crimes of Grindelwald” generated $62.1 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Year-to-date box office sales have quintupled, to about $1.73 billion, from the year-earlier period, Comscore reported.