A franchise revival, a remake and a big sci-fi/monster holdover walk into a bar…

This weekend’s box office isn’t one for the record books, as nothing is making Marvel/Pixar/”Avatar” money in a $12-$20 ticket environment. But it does show why Hollywood clings to old reliables and why cineplexes are grateful for them. Because something’s got to keep the lights on.

“Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” is the third film about magicians as grand illusionists and caper comedy Robin Hoods, the first film to put Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fischer, Dave Franco and Woody back on screen together since 2013, and the first in the franchise (Fisher missed the second film) since 2016.

It did a decent Thursday night ($2.1 or so) setting up an $8.4 million “opening day” Friday and bested the Edgar Wright remake of Stephen King’s “The Running Man” ($1.9/$6.5), which had a passable Friday. “Now You See Me” has the advantage of a PG-13 family-friendly rating, and The Numbers reports that its final tally reflected that — $21.3 million.

“The Running Man,” now an R-rated Glen Powell star vehicle, with Colman Domingo and Josh Brolin in villainous support, tallied $17 million, better than the $15 million it seemed headed for, but a lot less than the mid $20s first projected. Ouch. There’s a lot of money on the screen in this $110 million thriller.

Neither film is riding critical acclaim in this horse race.

Wright is beloved by fanboys/girls thanks to “Sean of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” He tries to take this material seriously in light of its dystopian connection to the ICE/fascism world we live in but never settles on a tone that works or a final act that pays off.

And “Now You See Me” was never all that to start with and adding three Gen Z accomplices and Rosamund Pike as a South African villain with the oddest Afrikaner accent of them all doesn’t help. Deadline.com says these “illusion” films are big in China. But what’s up with that colon in the middle of the title?

Projections are for “Predator Badlands” to lose over 66% of its opening weekend audience and earned $13 million this weekend, perhaps a bit more. It could come in second. I poked my head into a showing on Thursday evening that had a lot more people in it than the “preview” of “The Running Man” I was there to see.

The Colleen Hoover weeper “Regretting You” is finally fading away, but is still outperforming expectations, managing $5 million when $3.8 seemed the best it would manage.

“Black Phone 2” adds $2.65 million and enjoys its last weekend in the top five and appears destined to clear $84-86 million by the time it loses its screens.

Another new release, one I didn’t get to myself, is “Keeper,” a no-budget horror title from Neon and Osgood Perkins (“Longlegs,” “The Monkey,” “Blackcoat’s Daughter”). It finished in sixth $2.5 million take. Neon keeps betting on this guy.

Nothing else is making money, as “Nuremburg” ($2.4) and the sort-of faith-based “Sarah’s Oil” ($2.34) never took off, “Chainsaw Man” ($1.6) is finally fading away and “Bugonia” ($1.6) and out of the top ten “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” underwhelmed and his fans have aged out of moviegoing during the first Obama administration.

“Tron: Ares” exits the top ten/top twelve and the scene with a $72 million take. The damned thing cost $180 million.

Maybe Netflix should have opened “Frankenstein” in more cinemas and for a few weeks longer.