‘Practical Magic 2’ Could Give Warner Bros. Its Biggest Opening Weekend of the Year

Nostalgia-driven sequels have become one of Hollywood’s most reliable box office strategies over the past few years, with studios increasingly betting on beloved ’90s and 2000s properties to draw audiences back into theaters. Few upcoming releases fit that mold quite as neatly as a long-awaited follow-up to a supernatural family drama that originally struggled at the box office decades ago.

That original film is 1998’s ‘Practical Magic,’ which grossed just $46.7 million domestically on a reported $75 million budget, making it a theatrical disappointment despite eventually building a devoted cult following on home video and cable. That fanbase has grown steadily in the years since, setting the stage for a sequel that industry trackers now expect to dramatically outperform its predecessor.

That sequel is ‘Practical Magic 2,’ and it’s now projected to open with more than $40 million at the domestic box office, according to early tracking estimates. That projection would mark the film’s franchise-best domestic debut and give Warner Bros. its first release of 2026 to clear the $40 million threshold in its opening weekend.

Multiple box office analysts have offered slightly varying estimates for the film’s opening frame, with figures ranging from $30 million to $54 million depending on the source. Box Office Theory has been among the more bullish trackers, projecting a range as high as $46.5 million, while EmpireCity Box Office has forecast an opening above $40 million based on notably strong advance ticket sales.

To put those numbers in perspective, the original ‘Practical Magic’ opened to just $13.1 million back in 1998, a figure the sequel is now expected to more than triple even before accounting for inflation. That kind of jump reflects just how much cultural cachet the franchise has accumulated in the years since its theatrical release, driven largely by the enduring popularity of stars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.

Bullock and Kidman both return to their original roles as witch sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, with director Susanne Bier taking over behind the camera for the sequel. Bier previously worked with Bullock on ‘Bird Box’ and with Kidman on both ‘The Undoing’ and ‘The Perfect Couple,’ giving her established creative relationships with both of the film’s leading stars heading into production.

Analysts have pointed to comparable recent box office performances from both stars as reasonable benchmarks for the sequel’s potential, citing Bullock’s 2022 film ‘The Lost City,’ which opened to $30.4 million, and her 2018 heist comedy ‘Ocean’s Eight,’ which debuted to $41.6 million. Those comparisons suggest the current tracking estimates fall well within the realm of what both stars have proven capable of drawing at the box office in recent years.

Part of what’s fueling optimism around the film’s opening is the relatively light competition it faces during its release window. The sequel opens against smaller titles including “Runner,” “The Uprising” and “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger,” none of which are expected to pose a significant box office threat, with Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’ representing the only notable release arriving the following week.

‘Practical Magic 2’ also brings in new cast additions including Joey King, Lee Pace, Maisie Williams, Xolo Maridueña and Solly McLeod, joining the returning stars as the story follows the Owens sisters confronting a dark family curse that’s plagued their bloodline for generations. The film is based on Alice Hoffman’s original 1995 novel, giving the sequel a direct literary connection back to the source material that inspired the first movie.

If the film’s opening weekend numbers land anywhere within current projections, ‘Practical Magic 2’ would represent a rare case of a theatrical flop spawning a sequel that vastly outperforms the original at the box office. Whether that translates into a broader franchise revival remains to be seen once the film actually opens.

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