Warner Bros. is looking to keep the box office spell going with Practical Magic 2, which is tracking for a global launch in the $58 million-$63 million range.
The sequel to the 1998 Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman witchy romantic fantasy comedy is eyeing around $40 million domestically, with another $18 million-$23 million expected overseas from 77 territories. Warner Bros.’ own North American estimate is more conservative, in the $30 million-$35 million range from 4,000 theaters, though there is confidence in the marketplace that the film could overperform thanks to the original’s enduring fan base among millennial and Gen-Z women.
The PG-13 film begins previews Thursday at 2 p.m. and will have premium large-format play in the U.S. and Canada, including Dolby. Internationally, Practical Magic 2 will open in markets including Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Spain and the U.K., though not China.
The timing matters for Warner Bros., which has turned the post-Labor Day corridor into a reliable launchpad since It: Chapter One in 2017. That film still holds the September domestic opening record with $123.4 million. Warner Bros. also claims the next three biggest September domestic launches with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at $111 million, It: Chapter Two at $91 million and New Line’s The Conjuring: Last Rites at $84 million.
The studio is coming off a summer that reached a record $4.76 billion stateside, and Practical Magic 2 is being positioned as a female-skewing destination title. On first-choice tracking, the film is strongest with women over 25, followed by women under 25. Overall first choice is running 100% above Warner Bros.’ Wuthering Heights, which opened to $32.8 million, while sitting 40% below Bullock’s Lost City, which opened to $30.4 million.
Expectations are not in the same zone as The Devil Wears Prada 2, which bowed to $76.7 million in the U.S. and went on to $220.5 million domestic and $693 million global. Still, the returning affection for Practical Magic is central to the sequel’s outlook.
Stephanie Bier directed Practical Magic 2, following the original film, which was directed by After Hours star Griffin Dunne. Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel wrote the screenplay, based on Alice Hoffman’s 2021 novel The Book of Magic.
Critics have not been especially enchanted so far: Practical Magic 2 stands at 34% on Rotten Tomatoes. The first film also struggled with reviewers, sitting at 30%, but it went on to become a durable title in the Warner Bros. library and later on HBO Max, where viewership helped lead to the sequel’s green light.
The 1998 movie opened to $13.1 million and finished with $46.7 million domestic, $47.7 million overseas and $94.4 million worldwide. The sequel carries a net cost of $75 million before prints and advertising. Its story follows a multi-generational family of witches, cursed to be loveless for centuries, as they try to break the spell by confronting dark secrets and making sacrifices for one another.
A crowded weekend beyond the witches
While Practical Magic 2 is the major studio title to watch, several other releases are entering the marketplace.
NEON’s sci-fi film Hope, described as a big hit in South Korea, opened today and is expected to land in the single digits over its five-day opening from 1,560 theaters stateside. The film stars Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander as aliens, was written and directed by Na Hong-ji, world premiered at Cannes and currently holds a 78% Rotten Tomatoes critics score.
Angel Studios has the action comedy Runner, unrelated to the Gal Gadot Prime Video title currently streaming. The film stars Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson and is projected to do single digits from 2,000 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. Directed by Scott Waugh, Runner is at 67% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and follows a former soldier and an unlikely partner who become targets of a ruthless cartel while attempting to complete a critical medical delivery and save a young girl’s life.
Focus Features is releasing the Andrew Garfield period film The Uprising from Paul Greengrass. Based on the legend of Robin Hood in his crusade against King Richard II’s tyranny, the film is expected to earn around $5 million domestically; the source material cites bookings at 1,500 sites and also references 2,055 locations. Critics are cooler on the film, with a 54% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Disney is also entering the frame with the concert documentary Oasis: Don’t Look Back at Anger, playing in 1,200 theaters, including 390 Imax auditoriums. The film, about the British band, is projected at $2 million-$4 million. It world premiered at Venice to an eight-minute standing ovation and carries a 97% Rotten Tomatoes critics score.
Meanwhile, Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day is poised to overtake Star Wars: Force Awakens, which stands at $936.6 million, as the highest-grossing movie ever at the North American box office. If it does not pass that mark in its seventh weekend, it is expected to cross the threshold by mid-next week.