'Practical Magic 2' Sparks $3.5M+ In Previews On Thursday - Box Office Update

Primary Journalistic Dispatch & Direct Reporting

Warner Bros and Alcon's Practical Magic 2 starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman is off to a solid start in previews with an estimated $3.5 million to $4 million after showtimes that began Thursday at 2 p.m.

Those figures are higher than the previews of Bullock's 2022 romantic adventure pic The Lost City ($2.5M, $31M 3-day opening) and the 2022 George Clooney-Julia Roberts romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise ($1.1M previews, $16.5M opening). The preview cash is also a notch above Warner Bros/MRC's Wuthering Heights $3M Thursday, which turned into a $32.8M 3-day opening. Even if this $70M net production files an opening between $30M-$35M domestic, it's not cursed.

In-Depth Developments & Factual Context

Practical Magic 2 will have the power of PLFs this weekend, notably Dolby Cinema. Alcon financed 50% of the Bullock and Kidman reteam.

Critics are harsh on the sequel at 36%, but they also tried to cast a bad spell on the original 1998 movie at 29% Rotten. That pic opened to No. 1 at $13.1M back on October 16-18, 1998 and finaled at $46.7M domestic, $94.4M worldwide with a B- CinemaScore (sometimes moviegoers in their CinemaScores can be harder on features based on novels). The international outlook for part 2 in 77 territories sans China is between $18M-$23M.

Industry Impact & Strategic Analysis

Neon's sci-fi alien invasion movie Hope written and directed by Na Hong-jin opened yesterday to $1.1M at 1,506 theaters. That included $305,000 in previews. The pic is expected to do the mid-single digits in its 5-day debut. The pic was a smash in its home country of South Korea, grossing over $36M and ranking No. 1 two weekends in a row. Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander play aliens in the pic.

Also opening this weekend is Disney's documentary Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger and Angel Studios' Runner.

Forward Outlook & Market Perspective

Tonight's previews are estimates from sources. We'll have the actual reported figure from Warner Bros on Friday morning.

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