That Sandra Bullock can still pull’em in. Having fellow Oscar winner Nicole Kidman as co-star, with Oscar winner Dianne Weist in support and newbies Maisie Williams and Joey King isn’t hurting the seriously belated sequel to 1998’s “Practical Magic” either.
Nor are reviews, which are lukewarm, at best.
I was wondering who all the middle aged folk were, gathered in the lobby of the cinema where I caught “The Uprising” Thursday. It was the Sandy/Nicole uprising, producing a healthy $4.7 million Thursday afternoon and evening take in North America for “Practical Magic 2.”
Deadline.com says that boosted Friday, with the Thursday/Friday take adding up to a $12.5 million opening day. That projects out to a $30 million+ weekend.
Providing, of course, that the “opening weekend” of the Beast that Ate American Sport and feeds Gambling Addicts, far and wide — the NFL — doesn’t ding it. Not to worry. Top tip — check your fanduel account before the opening credits, kids. Then turn off the phone. You don’t need the stress.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is bowling along, adding another $8-9 million. If it comes in less than that, color me surprised. The comic book film/concussion ball fanbase overlap isn’t huge.
“The Odyssey,” as I’ve noted before, is winning weekdays from “Brand New Day,” but should come in this weekend in the $5-7 range. The NFL opener should kill its business on Sunday, though.
The wider release of the Korean alien invasion thriller “Hope” won’t clear $6. I ducked into it for a few minutes before deciding I might set aside the two and a half hours it takes to sit through it on some future date. Looks gonzo in the trailers, the chunk I saw looked slow and (perhaps intentionally) cheesy. The theater was empty, aside from me. Reviews haven’t been over the moon. But I’ll get to it eventually.
Angel Studios’ “Runner,” a very violent “comic” thriller co-starring Owen Wilson and Alan Ritchson, aka TV’s Jack “Reacher,” may earn in the mid single digits. Lot of “Reacher” fans out there.
“The Uprising,” the latest from Paul Greengrass, a Robin Hood-ish period piece starring Andrew Garfield and Thomasin McKenzie, won’t make any noise at all. Low single digits, I figure. I was alone in the matinee “preview” screening I attended.
And there’s an Oasis documentary, playing in the states on the off chance that they were bigger than they seemed on this side of the Atlantic. Disney has “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger,” for the Gen X crowd that cares. A big ’90s band whose leader married Gwyneth Paltrow, for a bit? We’ll see who turns out.
With four new titles out, expect a summer house cleaning in the lower ranks of the box office top ten.
“Coyote vs. Acme” and the latest “Insidious” should stick around, maybe “Buddy.” Re-releases of “Cars” and “Akira” are perhaps done, along with “The End of Oak Street” and maybe even “By Any Means.”
Check back here as the weekend progresses as I will be updating these figures with fresh data Sat. afternoon and Sunday.


