Practical Magic 2 Opens; Fielder's Holmes Doc Premieres — SkimNews
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- Practical Magic 2 pulled $3.5M–$4M in Thursday previews, topping Bullock's 2022 'The Lost City' ($2.5M previews/$31M opening) and edging Warner Bros/MRC's recent 'Wuthering Heights' ($3M Thursday/$32.8M opening).link ›
- Alcon financed 50% of the $70M net production; international rollout covers 77 territories sans China, with $18M–$23M projected overseas.link ›
- Critics rate the sequel at 36% on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviews slamming the adaptation for relegating Nicole Kidman and Maisie Williams to side roles while Joey King's romance gets no chemistry-building time before her love interest slips into an onscreen coma.link ›
- Nathan Fielder's 'You Can See Everything' premiered as Telluride's secret sneak at the Werner Herzog Theater, drawing continuous laughs across nearly three hours of footage shot in the 30-plus days before Elizabeth Holmes reported to a Texas federal prison in 2023.link ›
- Andrew Garfield stars as Sam Altman in Neon's 'Artificial' teaser, delivering lines like 'countries will fall, industries are gonna collapse' in Luca Guadagnino's Christmas Day film.link ›
- Amazon dropped 'Artificial' in June after announcing a $50 billion OpenAI investment earlier in 2026; the film features Mark Rylance, Monica Barbaro, Billie Lourd, and Jason Schwartzman.link ›
- Oasis documentary 'Don't Look Back In Anger,' scripted by Steven Knight and directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, hits Cardiff's Principality Stadium reunion gig 40 minutes in — with pointed omissions including no dynamic pricing mention and no Bonehead cancer interview.link ›
- Charli xcx announced six February 2027 European arena dates with Audrey Hobert opening, hitting Dublin's 3Arena (Feb. 13), Glasgow's OVO Hydro, Manchester, London's The O2 (Feb. 19), Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome, and Paris's Accor Arena (Feb. 24).link ›
Twenty-eight years after Bullock and Kidman first brewed the Owens sisters' charm, 'Practical Magic 2' conjured $3.5M–$4M in Thursday previews — edging Warner Bros/MRC's recent 'Wuthering Heights' ($3M) and topping Bullock's 2022 'The Lost City' ($2.5M) — while critics torched the sequel with a 36% Rotten Tomatoes score. The $70M film, financed 50/50 by Alcon, opens on 77 international territories without China, and reviews flag Nicole Kidman and Maisie Williams getting benched for Joey King's pre-coma romance arc. Telluride's secret screening went to Nathan Fielder's nearly three-hour 'You Can See Everything,' co-directed with Lance Oppenheim and reportedly eyeing an A24 theatrical release as soon as next month, with Billy Evans showering on camera and Fielder's reaction shots doing the heavy lifting.
The stories behind this week
Oasis Comeback Doc Skips Band's Real ConflictsFor a global audience that paid inflated ticket prices and waited 15 years for this reunion, the documentary's selective memory is a commercial choice with consequences: fans seeking answers about Bonehead's health, the dynamic pricing fallout, or the brothers' family rift will leave unsatisfied, while the film functions more as a Knebworth hype reel than a candid portrait.
'Artificial' Teaser: Andrew Garfield as Sam AltmanThe film dramatizes the most-watched corporate ouster in AI's short history. Amazon's June decision to drop it — after committing to a $50 billion OpenAI investment, as the source states — shows how commercial stakes can override content ambitions. Garfield's casting marks a dramatic turn beyond his recent franchise work, and a Christmas release positions the film squarely in awards-season conversation.
Gary Oldman: HBO’s Harry Potter Series More Satisfying Than FilmsFans gain a more complete version of the story they love, with deeper character development expected from the series’ ability to follow the books closely—something the films couldn’t achieve even at three-hour lengths. This shift prioritizes source fidelity over cinematic brevity.
Charli xcx Announces U.K. and Europe ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ Tour Dates, With Audrey Hobert OpeningCharli xcx is funneling her post-"Brat" reinvention into six of Europe's highest-capacity arenas in one February 2027 sweep, and the choice of Audrey Hobert — a rising act rather than a major label name — over a safer opener signals Charli's intent to platform emerging talent on a continent-crossing run.
Practical Magic 2 Hits $3.5M+ In Thursday PreviewsA $3.5M–$4M Thursday for a $70M production that critics panned at 36% suggests audience appetite for nostalgic IP is overriding review-driven headwinds — Alcon's 50% stake means the studio clears a profit if the film lands in the projected $30M–$35M domestic band, while the 77-territory international footprint (sans China) caps the upside ceiling at roughly $53M–$58M global.
France Shortlists De Gaulle, Minotaur for Oscar RaceFour of the five shortlisted titles already carry Cannes prizes, including a Grand Prix winner (Minotaur) that is also competing for Germany — meaning the committee's September 16 deliberation will weigh not just festival pedigree but which film gives France the strongest standalone case in an increasingly crowded international Oscar field that now includes submissions from Israel, South Korea, Romania, and Chile.
Practical Magic 2 Review: Sequel Misses Original's CharmFor a 28-year-awaited sequel, the film functions less as a standalone and more as franchise infrastructure — Bullock has already teased a trilogy-concluding third film, and Hoffman's two unused prequel novels offer further source material. The PG-13, 2-hour-10-minute runtime targets broad audiences, though critics note Kidman gets sidelined despite being half the original's draw.
Nathan Fielder Holmes Doc Premieres at TellurideFielder's lens reframes the Holmes saga as dark comedy rather than straight exposé — the nearly three-hour film is described as drawing continuous laughter and hilariously deadpan reaction shots — meaning audiences get a Theranos portrait that is both longer and tonally distinct from Alex Gibney's "The Inventor" and Hulu's "The Dropout." Distribution partner A24 faces an unusually tight window, with a theatrical release reportedly possible as soon as next month, which would compress the usual festival-to-platform rollout.
Why it matters: If the $3.5M–$4M Thursday preview holds, it confirms that 28 years of brand equity can outrun a 36% Rotten Tomatoes score — the cleanest data point yet that pre-streaming-era IP survives bad reviews when the audience already loves it.
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