After summer hit a record $4.76 billion stateside, Warner Bros has a female destination in Practical Magic 2, the sequel to the 1998 Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman witchy romantic fantasy comedy which is eyeing around $40M domestic, and between $18-23M overseas in 77 territories for a global start between $58M-$63M.
Practical Magic 2 will unspool in such territories as Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Spain and the UK, but not China.
Warners has owned the post-Labor Day frame since 2017’s It: Chapter One, extending the momentum of summer. It: Chapter One still holds the record for the biggest opening at the September domestic box office with $123.4M. In fact, Warner Bros owns the top four openings in September stateside along with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ($111M), It: Chapter Two ($91M) and New Line’s The Conjuring: Last Rites ($84M).
Warners believes the North American start for Practical Magic 2 is between $30M-$35M at 4,000 theaters, but there’s a confidence out there that this movie could over-perform since it’s a sequel to a fan favorite beloved by millennials and Gen-Z females. It’s not expected to go wild ala The Devil Wears Prada 2 which bowed to $76.7M U.S. and legged out to $220.5M domestic and $693M global, but there’s a dedicated core who’s bound to show up for the Stephanie Bier directed part 2 (the original was directed by After Hours star Griffin Dunne).
On tracking in first choice, the movie is hot with women over 25 followed by women under. Overall first choice is above Warner Bros’ Wuthering Heights ($32.8M opening) by 100% but below Bullock’s Lost City by 40% ($30.4M opening).
Practical Magic 2 has PLFs in U.S./Canada this weekend, notably Dolby. The PG-13 movie starts previews on Thursday at 2PM.
Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett, and Kelly Marcel penned the screenplay off Alice Hoffman’s 2021 novel, The Book of Magic. Critics aren’t wild for Practical Magic 2 at 34% on Rotten Tomatoes, but they weren’t a fan of the original movie either at 30%. The first pic opened to $13.1M and made $46.7M domestic, $47.7M abroad for a worldwide take of $94.4M. The movie endured in the Warner Bros’ library, much like Heat, and later on HBO Max, that viewership a catalyst for part 2’s green light. The movie cost a net $75M before P&A. In Practical Magic 2, a multi generational family of witches, cursed to be loveless for centuries, attempts to break the spell by confronting dark secrets and sacrificing for each other.
Meanwhile, Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day is poised to take out Star Wars: Force Awakens ($936.6M) as the highest grossing movie ever at the North American box office. If it doesn’t happen in its seventh weekend, then it will cross that threshold by mid next week.
Neon
NEON’s sci-fi Hope, a big hit in South Korea, opened today. The pic is expected to be in the single digits in its 5-day opening at 1,560 theaters stateside. The Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander co-starring as aliens, Na Hong-ji directed and written feature that world premiered at Cannes is 78% fresh with Rotten Tomatoes critics.
Angels Studios’ has the action comedy movie Runner (not to be confused with the Gal Gadot Prime Video title currently streaming), which stars Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson, and it’s also expected to do in the single digits at 2,000 in the U.S./Canada. The Scott Waugh directed movie is 67% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and follows a former soldier and his unlikely partner who become targets of a ruthless cartel while racing to complete a critical medical delivery and save the life of a little girl.
Focus Features has the Andrew Garfield period movie The Uprising from Paul Greengrass which is based on the legend of Robin Hood in his crusade against King Richard II’s tyranny. Booked at 1,500 sites, it’s expected to do around $5M at 2,055 locations domestic. Critics aren’t high on it at 54% Rotten.
Disney has the concert documentary Oasis: Don’t Look Back at Anger at 1,200 theaters including 390 Imax auditoriums with an outlook at $2M-$4M. The documentary about the British band world premiered at Venice to an eight-minute standing ovation and counts 97% fresh with Rotten Tomatoes critics.
