It looks like the highly anticipated legacy sequel, Practical Magic 2, isn’t quite casting as much of a spell on audiences as anticipated. We predicted it would make about $40 million this weekend (the industry expected even more), but according to Deadline’s early numbers, it’s only on track for a $30 million opening. While that’s not a terrible number if you consider that the original only made $46 million in total (it was a bit of a flop in 1998), the sequel was expected to make significantly more thanks to the original’s growing cult following.
Alas, it was not meant to be, with this counting as another underperformer for Warner Bros., who have had a troubled year at the box office following a series of high-profile flops that include The Bride, Supergirl, They Will Kill You, and Evil Dead Wrath. The good news is it only cost $75 million and will still turn a profit, although the CinemaScore is only a fair B+, which doesn’t suggest it will have much in the way of legs at the box office. It’s opening in range of Sandra Bullock’s last theatrical film, The Lost City, although it won’t have the legs that one did, as that movie ended up grossing a strong $105 million domestically.
As expected, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in second place, with it looking at an $8.5 million weekend as it closes in on becoming the highest-grossing film of all time domestically. The Odyssey is really close behind with $8.1 million, with it propped up by all those 70mm IMAX showings, which are still sold out everywhere.
Newcomer Runner, with Alan Ritchson, is looking at an OK $6 million opening, with the Angel Studios release earning a strong A-minus CinemaScore. The South Korean hit Hope is further down the list with $3.3 million, which isn’t bad for a Korean-language film, although one assumes distributor Neon was hoping it would show more muscle (in my opinion, it’s a must-see). The Uprising, with Andrew Garfield, is bombing with only $3.1 million and a poor B-minus CinemaScore.
We’ll be back tomorrow with a full roundup, including international numbers.