“Practical Magic 2,” the sequel to the Sandra Bullock–Nicole Kidman late ’90s cult favorite, looks to end the spell “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” has cast on the box office since the last day of July.
But perhaps more importantly, can the film end whatever hex has befallen Warner Bros.?
Boxoffice Pro’s Daniel Loria sees Warner Bros. finally dethroning “Spider-Man” this weekend with “Practical Magic 2” aiming for a $40 million opening.
Loria expects the film to do better than last year’s “Freaky Friday” sequel, a similar female-targeted legacy sequel, which opened to $28 million in early August.
“Warner Bros. is coming off an all-time great slate in 2025, but hasn’t found the same success so far this year. This could all change starting with this weekend, as the market is primed to have ‘Practical Magic 2’ finally dethrone Spider-Man as the number one film at the box office,” Loria says.
It was only six months ago that Warner Bros. was riding high coming off a 2025 that saw both critical (“One Battle After Another”) and commercial (“A Minecraft Movie”) hits, and others that melded both while hitting the cultural zeitgeist (“Sinners”).
“One Battle After Another” and “Sinners” were both big winners at the Oscars, while Zach Creggar’s “Weapons” was among the biggest horror surprises of the year.
It’s been markedly different in 2026.
After “Wuthering Heights” used its global appeal to push past $270 million worldwide, Warner Bros. has mostly come up empty. There’s been the disappointing “Mortal Kombat” sequel that barely surpassed its COVID-era predecessor, a mixed bag in horror with “They Will Kill You” and “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,” and the outright bomb that was “The Bride!”
In fact, Warner Bros. is entering the final third of the year without a single movie that’s grossed $100 million domestically — the first time that’s happened since 2001.
Warner Bros. bosses Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy have been here before.
Ahead of their smash “Minecraft” hit, there were rumors that WBD chief David Zaslav was looking for their replacements after a string of expensive misses in 2024 like “Furiosa” and “Joker: Folie a Deux.”
But next up on Warner Bros.’ slate are high-profile films including Tom Cruise’s “Digger,” “The Cat in the Hat” and Denis Villeneuve’s third “Dune” movie.
Credit: Source link