From Variety · Rebecca Rubin · · 1m 10s
'Practical Magic 2' opens soft at $30 million
The Owens sisters topped the box office and still landed on the low end of every projection.
In brief
The Owens sisters topped the box office and still landed on the low end of every projection. A number one finish can still be a miss. $30 million domestic and $16 million overseas is not what a 28-year-awaited sequel was supposed to do. Originally reported by Variety.
The spell did not take
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman came back as the witchy Owens sisters, and audiences did not follow them into theaters.
“Whatever spell conjured by the witchy Owens sisters ... wasn't powerful enough to lure audiences to theaters.”
First place, still a letdown
'Practical Magic 2' won the weekend with $30 million. That was the low end of what Warner Bros. and analysts had penciled in.
Wide release, thin per screen
The sequel played 4,146 North American theaters. Spread that widely, $30 million works out to roughly $7,200 a location.
Overseas was worse
Foreign markets delivered just $16 million across 77 territories, a dismal result for a fantasy title with two globally known stars.
“Overseas, the Warner Bros. fantasy sequel collected a dismal $16 million from 77 markets”
A $46 million start
Add it up and the global opening weekend came to $46 million, the number every projection for this sequel now gets measured against.
The headline
A number one finish can still be a miss. $30 million domestic and $16 million overseas is not what a 28-year-awaited sequel was supposed to do.
