"Practical Magic 2" opened at No. 1 over the weekend with $30 million from 4,146 North American theaters, according to studio estimates, enough to end "Spider-Man: Brand New Day's" six-week reign at the top of the domestic box office. The Warner Bros. sequel added roughly $16 million from 77 international markets for a global debut near $46 million.
The number landed at the low end of Warner Bros.' own $30-35 million projection and well below the $40-50 million some trackers had floated in August. The film, directed by Susanne Bier on a reported $75 million budget, reunites Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, with Joey King, Maisie Williams and Lee Pace joining the cast nearly three decades after the 1998 original. That first film opened to just $13.1 million — about $27 million adjusted for inflation — before finding its real audience later on cable and home video, a trajectory Warner Bros. is clearly hoping this sequel avoids rather than repeats.
Mixed Reviews, Warmer Audiences
Critics were unconvinced: the film sits in the high-30s percent range on Rotten Tomatoes, and the Associated Press gave it two out of four stars, writing that the sequel "abandons some of the campy fun" of the original even as it leans on the chemistry between its two leads. Audiences responded more warmly, awarding the film a B+ CinemaScore and a PostTrak score of 4.5 out of 5, with the Rotten Tomatoes audience score climbing into the 90s. Exit polling skewed heavily female, at roughly 75%, with women aged 35 to 49 grading the film an A-, according to figures reported by NBC News.
"The return of Bullock and Kidman was crucial to rekindling interest," box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian told NBC News, adding that the film's second-weekend hold will be the real test of whether the nostalgia pull translates into a longer run rather than a front-loaded opening.
Elsewhere on the chart, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" held at No. 2 with $8.4 million in its seventh week, while Universal's "The Odyssey" slipped to third with $7.6 million, according to Box Office Mojo's weekend chart. "Runner" and "Coyote vs. Acme" rounded out the top five.
With a $75 million budget to clear before marketing costs, Warner Bros. now needs steady holds through the fall rather than a single splashy debut. If the audience scores hold up, studio executives are betting word of mouth can do for the sequel what it eventually did for the original — just on a faster timeline.
