“Lionsgate’s Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is making magic at the domestic box office, where it stole the show in a surprise win ahead of Paramount’s big-budget The Running Man. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Now You See Me 3 topped the domestic chart with an estimated $21.3 million from 3,403 theaters after starting”, — write: www.hollywoodreporter.com
Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Now You See Me 3 topped the domestic chart with an estimated $21.3 million from 3,403 theaters after starting off with a better-than-expected $8.4 million on Friday, according to studio insiders. Overseas, it all-out dazzled, earning $54.2 million for a global start of $75.5 million.
Among its bag of tricks? Females are turning out in droves to see the third installment in the long-dormant franchise about a group of thieving magicians, buying up 54 percent of all tickets sold so far. And solid exit scores among moviegoers are more than making up for so-so reviews, including a B+ CinemaScore and an 80 percent audience ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film reunites franchise stalwarts Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher. Their characters, known as the Four Horsemen, are joined by a trio of younger magicians played by Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt and Dominic Sessa.
Heading into the weekend, Now You See Me 3 was tracking to debut in the $19 million range, while Running Man was tracking to top the chart with $24 million-$25 million. Paramount, however, was more cautious in suggesting $20 million. By Saturday morning, the studio lowered its estimate to $17 million to $19 million based on Friday’s gross of $6.4 million from 3,534 cinemas.
That range was too bullish, however. On Sunday, Paramount reported the film opening to $17 million, even though rival studios show it coming in closer to $16 million (Monday actuals will determine who is right). The news was worse overseas, where Running Man limped to an estimated $11.2 million from its first 58 markets, including paid previews.
Directed by Edgar Wright, Running Man‘s cast is led by Glen Powell. The pic marks the actor’s first box office miss since he rose to fame after starring in a string of hits, including Twisters, Anyone But You and Top Gun: Maverick.
Audience reaction can’t be blamed, since Running Man’s exit scores mirror Now You See Me 3 (which has somewhat better reviews). One big difference between the two films is the gender breakdown; Running Man is skewing heavily male (64 percent), meaning it has to compete with hit holdover Predator: Badlands.
Wright’s movie is the second movie adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 dystopian novel after the 1987 film of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The storyline revolves around a desperate man who appears on a deadly reality show that takes advantage of a classist society where many don’t have enough money to live on. Josh Brolin, William H. Macy, Lee Pace and Emilia Jones also star.
Running Man came in second, followed by 20th Century/Disney’s Badlandwhich came in third in its sophomore outing with an estimated $13 million for a domestic tally of $66.3 million — already the second-best showing of the franchise behind Predator vs. Alien ($80.3 million), not adjusted for inflation. Globally, it finished Sunday with an estimated $136.3 million in worldwide ticket sales, a similarly stellar number and the second-best of the series at current exchange rates and excluding China.
Constantin Films and Paramount’s sleeper hit Regretting You followed in fourth place a month after first hitting theaters with $4 million for a domestic tally of $45 million, while holdovers Black Phone 2 and Nuremberg placed fifth and sixth with an estimated $2.65 million and $2.6 million, respectively. Universal and Blumhouse’s hit horror Black Phone sequel finished its fifth weekend with a domestic total of $75 million. From Sony Pictures Classics, Nur
Osgood Perkins’ Keeperthe other new wide opener of the weekend, debuted to a frighteningly dismal $2.5 million from 1,950 theaters in a career-worst start for the director following such hits as Longlegs. The Neon release came in seventh after getting slapped with a D+ CinemaScore and awful audience exit polls (rivals show it earning less, or $1.3 million). The weekend wasn’t a total wash for Neon; Oscar hopeful Sentimental Value successfully expanded into a total of 28 theaters for a per-location average of $13,580, by far the best of the weekend aside among any movie.
The big milestone of the weekend went to Paul Thomas Anderson’s awards darling One Battle After Anotherwhich cleared the $200 million mark globally after finishing Sunday with a domestic tally of $70.2 million and $130.1 million for a worldwide tally of $200.3 million.
And Universal’s rerelease of Wicked on the eve of Wicked: For Good‘s opening next weekend paid off nicely, singing to $1.2 million from 2,195 theaters. From director Jon M. Chu, the second installment in his two-part opus is set to break more records for a movie adaptation of a Broadway musical.
More to come.
November 8, 7:30 am: Updated with revised weekend estimates.
This story was originally published Nov. 15 at 10:04 am
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