Box Office: ‘Practical Magic 2’ Aims to Dethrone ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ With $40 Million Debut — SkimNews
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- Practical Magic 2 targets a $30 million to $40 million domestic opening from 4,000 North American theaters, positioning it to claim the No. 1 spot and end Spider-Man: Brand New Day's six-weekend reign atop the chart.
- Warner Bros. produced the Practical Magic sequel for $75 million, with international openings from 77 territories projected at $18 million to $25 million, for an initial global range of $48 million to $65 million.
- The original Practical Magic (1998) was a box office flop that became a cult favorite; the sequel, picking up 25 years later, follows the daughters of Sally and Gillian Owens trying to break a family curse, with Susanne Bier directing and Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing reprising their roles alongside newcomers Joey King and Maisie Williams.
- Reviews for Practical Magic 2 have been harsh — Variety critic Todd Gilchrist called the film "as cumbersome and overlong as the 28-year wait" between chapters — a signal the source flags as a potential drag on box office longevity beyond the opening weekend.
- Disney's Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger music documentary eyes a $5 million to $7 million debut from 1,200 domestic theaters, featuring Liam and Noel Gallagher's first joint interview in two decades and behind-the-scenes footage from their reunion tour; the film bowed earlier in the week at the Venice Film Festival.
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day has generated $923 million domestically and $2.4 billion globally, and should pass Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936 million, unadjusted) in coming days to become the highest-grossing domestic release of all time.
Why it matters: Warner Bros. staked $75 million on a sequel to a 1998 box office flop, and its own Variety critic panned it as "cumbersome and overlong," leaving the studio reliant on nostalgia alone to convert opening weekend into lasting returns. Spider-Man: Brand New Day, meanwhile, sits at $923 million domestically — within days of passing Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the all-time U.S. record.
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