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'Practical Magic 2' conjures a No. 1 box office debut with $30 million
“Practical Magic 2” conjures a box-office victory this weekend, topping the North American charts nearly three decades after its predecessor.
'Practical Magic 2' Casts a Spell Over U.K., Ireland Box Office
'Practical Magic 2' cast a winning spell over the U.K. and Ireland box office, claiming the top spot with an opening weekend of $3.7 million.
Nicole Kidman opens up about making 'Practical Magic 2'
Nicole Kidman talks to The Tennessean about returning as the Owens sisters with Sandra Bullock in the long awaited \
A ‘Social Network’ follow-up and a ‘Hunger Games’ prequel headline fall movies
Audiences can also catch “Practical Magic 2,” “Sense and Sensibility” and a transformed Tom Cruise on the big screen.
Joey King has her ‘Practical Magic 2’ costars cackling over this naughty Sandra Bullock joke
Joey King shocked her ‘Practical Magic 2’ costars with a racy Sandra Bullock joke while chatting with Entertainment Weekly.
“Practical Magic 2 ”breaks the spell “Spider-Man ”and “The Odyssey ”held over the box office, but fails to conjure a profit
The witchy sequel recouped only $46 million of its estimated $75 million budget — but will it find lasting power at the box office?
'Practical Magic 2' conjures a No. 1 box office debut with $30 million
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Practical Magic 2" conjured a box-office victory this weekend, opening atop the North American charts nearly three decades after its predecessor grew from a modest theatrical performer into a cult favorite.
'Practical Magic 2' breaks Spidey spell over N. American box office
The A-list witches of Warner Bros.'The witch sisters summoned another $16 million outside of North America, for a total global estimate of $46 million.
When is 'Practical Magic 2' streaming? How to watch it at home.
Your favorite witchy sisters from the '90s are back in 2026.
'Practical Magic 2' conjures a No. 1 box office debut with $30 million
“Practical Magic 2” conjures a box-office victory this weekend, topping the North American charts nearly three decades after its predecessor.
For Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, 'Practical Magic 2' heals old wounds
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman view “Practical Magic” very differently today than they did when they made it 28 years ago | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
'Practical Magic 2' is charming but cursed by repetition
The Owens sisters are as bewitching as ever – multiple generations of them, in fact – in “Practical Magic 2,” even if the sequel might only truly cast a spell
15 years ago, 4 letters changed Magic forever — and one new ability backfired
Magic 2012’s designers reveal how “dies” streamlined the game and why hexproof eventually gave way to ward
I Haven't Watched Many Big Movies Like Practical Magic 2 Starring Middle-Aged Women, So I Did A Deep Dive
Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock back on the big screen got me thinking.
'Practical Magic 2' brings back the magic and the mess
The Owens sisters are as bewitching as ever – multiple generations of them, in fact – in “Practical Magic 2,” even if the sequel might only truly cast a spell
'Practical Magic 2,' Mad Rabbit closes and GLEAM opens
Editor's note: Below is the Sept. 10 edition of the Food & Culture newsletter. If you want to receive it in your email inbox every Thursday (it's free!), subscribe at
'Practical Magic 2' conjures a No. 1 box office debut with $30 million
“Practical Magic 2” conjures a box-office victory this weekend, topping the North American charts nearly three decades after its predecessor
Why 'Practical Magic 2' Star Xolo Maridueña Looks So Familiar
Wondering where you know 'Practical Magic 2' star Xolo Maridueña from? Here are the roles that may have made his latest appearance feel so familiar.
'Practical Magic 2' conjures a No. 1 box office debut with $30 million
“Practical Magic 2” conjures a box-office victory this weekend, topping the North American charts nearly three decades after its predecessor. The Warner Bros. sequel, starring Sandra Bullock and...
Sandra Bullock reveals the shocking question she kept getting asked about ‘Practical Magic’
‘Practical Magic 2’ star Sandra Bullock reveals the shocking question she kept getting asked about the original 1998 film during its promotion three decades ago.
'Practical Magic 2' review: Sequel honors the original by being a similarly dopey mess
The original "Practical Magic" wasn't a great film — but its fans might appreciate this similarly muddled sequel more than our film critic did.
'Practical Magic 2' conjures a No. 1 box office debut with $30 million
“Practical Magic 2” conjures a box-office victory this weekend, topping the North American charts nearly three decades after its predecessor. The Warner Bros. sequel, starring Sandra Bullock and...
Sandra Bullock reveals her son and daughter have secret “Practical Magic 2” cameos
The actress said she’s “unbelievably proud” of Louis and Laila.
‘Practical Magic’ Star Speaks Out After Not Being Asked Back For The Sequel
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman return as witch sisters in “Practical Magic 2,” but one of their best-known co-stars will be noticeably absent.
Who Won August and September: Original Films or Franchises?
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) I just heard someone say that if you’re reading a pundit or data analyst, and they don’t tell you that they got anything wrong, they’re not a pundit but an “influencer”. I agree with that. You have to tell your audience when you get things wrong, or they won’t (or shouldn’t) trust you as much. Today, we’ve got another edition of “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong”. In general, I’m patting myself on the back (and patting very hard) about a few things like IP at the box office, LIV golf, horror films, crowdfunding movies, superheroes, and old people going to the theaters. That said, I also made a couple of data mistakes on the streaming bubble popping and HBO’s datecdotes, so I’m not perfect. But first, I need your feedback... Subscribe Follow-Ups: What Should We Call Mid-Budget Movies Which Aren’t Cinematic Enough for Theaters But Are Too Expensive to Make Money on Streaming? After I asked for feedback on what we should call straight-to-streaming films that are too big to pencil out on streaming but not really big enough to resonate in theaters, I got some great suggestions from you all, including... “Moldilocks” from John Aboud “Little Big Indie” from Travis Frick1 “Midflicks” from Jonathan Funke. “Extra-Medium” from Jona Nwuke. (Read the explanation in the footnote.) Between these and Brandon Katz—who suggested “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”—we’ve got some excellent suggestions. And they’re better than my suggestion, the “Streaming Budget Dead Zone”, so let’s take a poll! The winning entry becomes the new term. Loading... RIGHT: LIV Golf is Fully Bankrupt…Is Anyone Else Next? A few years ago, I was always a bit perplexed at all the articles I’d read praising LIV Golf and their strategy to disrupt the PGA. LIV Golf, a brand new professional golf league, offered PGA stars ten times what they made on the PGA Tour to join their new league. And folks praised this strategy for its initial “success” in that a lot of big names did indeed leave the PGA. Yeah, of course the players came over. LIV Golf paid them so, so, so much more! But LIV Golf hadn’t discovered a way to increase potential revenue. So think about this in basic business terms… They paid much more in costs… …but had no real way to increase revenue. That’s not a strategy! That’s deficit financing. It won’t work unless you bankrupt the competition (and then turn around and pay those same golfers much, much less). It’s not a sustainable strategy and only lasts as long as the company/person/nation backing it decides they’re cool with losing money. For LIV Golf, that meant Middle East oil wealth, in particular Saudi Arabian money. Clearly, the current Iran War has hurt Middle East finances, so they need to trim their more exorbitant spending. And LIV Golf was part of that trimming. This should be a major warning for others. TGL’s parent company, TMRW Sports, just got a $1 billion valuation, despite TGL’s (the indoor golf league) horrible TV viewership of less than half a million viewers per match. Unrivaled, the women’s basketball league, just secured a $650 valuation, despite its horrible TV viewership and a new rival (Project B) entering the scene next year. To relate this to streaming, Hollywood should ask which streamers may have wealthy patrons funding their losses. (Let’s be clear: Google, Amazon and Apple.) Could those patrons lose their appetite? For Amazon, probably not. But Apple has a new boss, so maybe! WRONG: My Analysis of the Streaming Bubble Was Missing a Week I’m going to be congratulating myself a lot today, but I make mistakes too, like this data goof. When I last compiled the data on the decline in TV shows, I was missing one week at the end of June. If you look at the first image, you can see that one week was mislabelled as “July”. Mainly, this image got updated to show a 27% decline, not 29%: This change doesn’t really impact the overall analysis, but it is two percent better. By the way, through the third quarter, the decline increased and it’s now a 30% decrease since 2022. (I’ll write/visualize this in an upcoming article.) But I want you to trust me and my data. Especially these days, when many people are using LLMs that I know are inserting faulty data into their charts, I want to keep earning my audience’s faith. So that’s the accurate data. RIGHT: IP Remains Very, Very Popular In July, I wrote a giant (and I mean giant) article on Backrooms, Obsession, and the box office, going over what we know, what we don’t know about what works in theaters, looking at YouTubers, IP, the horror genre, comic book movies, and a whole lot more. The month of August really tested a lot of my theses and, being honest, mostly supported my arguments. Let’s start with IP. Looking at 8-Aug (the weekend after Spider-Man: Brand New Day came out) to 18-Sep (the weekend that Resident Evil came out, which I think provides a nice bookend to this time period), there were seven films based on pre-existing IP: Resident Evil (2026) ($126 million) Practical Magic 2 ($65 million) _Insidious: Out of the Furthe_r ($65 million) Coyote Vs. Acme ($59 million) Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie ($53 million) Tony ($15 million) Super Troopers 3 ($7 million) Compare those to the notable original films from the past month—I actually could have included more movies, but here are just thirteen, bringing us to an even twenty films—including.... The End of Oak Street ($54 million) Buddy ($26 million) Mutiny ($15 million) By Any Means ($15 million) The Dog Stars ($14 million) Runner ($14 million) One Night Only ($11 million) Hope ($8 million) Spa Weekend ($7 million) The Uprising ($6 million) Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma ($6 million) Onslaught ($3 million) Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man ($2.8 million) Here’s that in chart form: Five of the top six films in this time period were all based on IP. I made a big chart of films that grossed over $200 million at the box office before Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey hit theaters. Let’s update that chart! By the way, if you want to see how I categorized each film—so another bar chart—here it is: I know that many of my fellow critics/pundits/analysts dislike films based on IP and how Hollywood is making so many of them. And I’m sympathetic to this point of view. As I’ve written many, many times before, you need a balance between existing franchises, new IP, and original films. And Hollywood clearly needs to make more films like Resident Evil (a well-made film from a visionary director) and fewer Practical Magic 2’s (which didn’t get critical or customer buzz). But at some point, critics and pundits need to contend with what audiences are telling them: Movie-goers aren’t showing up to original films. Audiences are speaking with their dollars, telling you they want more IP and franchises. You can try to convince studio heads to make fewer IP-based films and franchises, but the data and numbers aren’t there. Instead, critics need to work harder to convince audiences to show up for original films. Aim your ire/concern at the average person, not studio heads.2 Because they’re just making the films that audiences are telling them to make. WRONG: Original Horror Films Didn’t Break Out I’ll be honest, even though I wrote an article casting some skepticism on the horror genre in July, if you asked me to make a prediction, I would have predicted that, in August, a new, original horror film would have blown up. No, seriously, I just assumed that Obsession and Backrooms presaged a change in audience behavior. But none of the buzzy new original horror films from August—Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Onslaught (not an action film in spite of the ads), The End of Oak Street, Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man, or _Buddy—_broke out. To be clear, exactly one of those films (Buddy) had good “ROI”, but again—I try to be specific in my language—none were “popular” in any broad sense of the word. None of them will be “saving” movies theaters like Backrooms or _Obsession_helped save the summer. The new Insidious film and Resident Evil, both based on IP, were far and away the biggest horror films since July. (We’ll see if this changes in October/Halloween season.) RIGHT: Stay Skeptical about Crowdfunding... I’ve long been skeptical about crowd-investing platforms as one of Hollywood’s saviors, mainly because there’s so much hype/buzz. People need to stay more skeptical about more things, explaining both the potential upside but also the downsides. In particular, the media often hypes crowdfunding at the start and never checks in on the actual results after they’ve come in later. And August gave us our first update! _Ice Cream Man—_directed by Eli Roth—grossed $6 million off of a $5.5 million budget. This is a production of The Horror Section, which was one of the first “crowd investing” studios with 2,400 investors, which means that 2,400 investors probably lost money. They certainly aren’t getting as great of returns as if they had just invested their dollars in the stock market. Hopefully Stiletto (Tagline: “Someone’s Going to Make it Rain Blood!”) does better next month. WRONG: Another Data Goof Here’s another data error. When the first episode of House of the Dragon came out, HBO put out that it had 21.5 million viewers in the first three days, and I read that to mean in the US…but no, it was global. So my US-only datecdotes charts shouldn’t have included it. We never got US-only numbers for the first episode, but for the final episode, HBO put out that it had 11 million US viewers. (And that global dropped to 21 million viewers.) Here’s the updated chart (which I’ve since used in the Streaming Ratings Report): Still, this show is absolutely huge. RIGHT: Superhero Films Remain Very, Very Popular After Supergirl flopped, I read a few takes that “comic book movies are going the way of the Western”. Post-Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that take didn’t age well. To be fair, I have a very nuanced take on the superhero genre right now; it’s down right now, for a lot of reasons. But it’s not “dead”. Maybe _Spider-_Man is just a really popular character? I saw that take, and it’s a fair counter-argument. (But pundits arguing that superhero movies were dead should have mentioned this $1.5 billion counter-argument…) But is it just Spider-Man? The next Avengers film already has $50 million in pre-sales (and I was skeptical that that film would do well) and the Avengers: End Game re-release topped the box office two weekends ago (over three original films). And I wouldn’t bet against Batman or Superman. So maybe it’s just Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and the Avengers. Oh, and Deadpool, of course. And Black Panther. And Wolverine. And probably the X-Men. Plus a well-made Wonder Woman or the Hulk film could break out. But that’s it! It’s just those ten characters/teams. Oh, what’s that? Lanterns is also doing well on HBO? (See previous section…) To be fair, I’m actually pretty sympathetic to the argument that more popular characters—like Spider-Man and Batman—anchor more popular films. In fact, I made that exact argument three years ago when I first wrote about the “Marvel-cession”. In many ways, you can blame The Guardians of the Galaxy for fooling Marvel Studios (and the rest of us) into believing that any character could pop. It turns out, the list of iconic characters is probably smaller than most people think. But it’s probably too early to say that superhero films and comic book movies are dead unless “death” means a slight decline over a longtime. RIGHT: Who Killed Theaters? Old People I get frustrated whenever I see headlines or analysis about how young people are “returning” to theaters. As I’ve detailed(for years), young people have always powered the US box office, despite narratives about “kids these days” and their “phones”. Really, what’s changed post-2020/pandemic is that old people aren’t going to the movies nearly as much. This summer, I saw a movie (from an older director) in a theater near a retirement community, and multiple older people at the theater were talking about how this was their first time seeing a movie in years. I dislike personal anecdotes, so YouGov can fill in the data, best summarized by this headline: “Who killed movie theaters? Not the youths”. According to them, 64% of people aged 18-29 have seen a movie in the last year, but only 30% of 65-and-older. 20% of 18-29 have seen a movie in theaters in the last week and 42% in the last month. Here’s the polling data: Most concerning? Many Americans (17%) think theaters are a worse or much worse experience than watching films at home. Slight WRONG: Hadestown Opens Big A live theater capture of the Broadway musical, Hadestown, made $20 million at the US box office, which begs the question: was I wrong to be skeptical about musicals a few years ago? Yes and no. On the one hand, $20 million is a far cry from being “popular”, so yeah, the genre isn’t that popular overall and Hadestown is one of the more popular musicals from recent years (i.e. the “Taylor Swift Data Fallacy” in action). On the other, I doubt filming this cost all that much, and I don’t think that they spent much on marketing, so this is a good source of ancillary revenue. Smaller Updates WRONG: As I mentioned in a Streaming Ratings Report, I underestimated the budget for Enola Holmes 3. It probably cost more like $50 million, if not more. But... I’m not sure that it really matters? At sub-10 million hours, prices have to come down to make this work. WRONG: Netflix is giving Ink a 27-day in theaters! To quote the kids/YouTubers these days, let’s go! Now I might actually have a chance to see Danny Boyle’s latest in theaters. I’d complained about this in a “Coming Soon” section, but I was heartened to read that Netflix is giving multiple films longer theatrical windows this year. RIGHT: Netflix is sending 4-5 films per year to theaters. Netflix is slowly but surely sending more and more films to theaters, as I cautiously predicted earlier this year. For now, it’s just three big films and a number of awards contenders, but still, this is great news. And they’ll be releasing box office grosses! Just this week, Ted Sarandos confirmed that KPop Demon Hunters 2 will come to theaters (and my guess is it performs in the box office top ten at a minimum). WRONG: Angel has 3 million subscribers! How do I know this? Well, they told Deadline, who reported it. I marked this as “wrong”, since they’ve doubled their subscribers in one year but, you know, they don’t really have a hit film to speak of and they’re still losing money. WRONG: Furious was only renewed for one more season. I accidentally wrote “two more seasons” in my latest “Renewals, Cancellations, Un-Orders and Removals Update”. RIGHT: House of David is ending with its third season. In July, Prime Video renewed House of David for a third season, as I just wrote in my latest “Renewals and Cancellations” report. Well, now it’s ending after that third season. Why? As I’ve been writing, its viewership wasn’t great. I got feedback that this show didn’t cost very much, but it cost enough that its limited viewership didn’t save it. WRONG: Adults was a Hulu original! So I missed Adults when it first came out last year; I saw that it aired on FX and just assumed that it was a linear-first program. Turns out, it aired three episodes on FX, but binge-released the rest of its episodes the next day on Hulu. Huh. So I should have covered it last year! But I just wrote about it. 1 “When I was a kid in the 90s, if you wore a t-shirt to school that wasn’t too big and also wasn’t too small, but somehow didn’t quite fit, we’d say you were wearing an “extra-medium” shirt.” 2 As always, a huge exception is Disney, which barely makes anything original anymore.
Evan Rachel Wood speaks out about being replaced in 'Practical Magic 2'
Evan Rachel Wood says she wasn’t asked to return for “Practical Magic 2” and reveals Joey King reached out after taking over her role.
'Practical Magic 2' conjures a No. 1 box office debut with $30 million
“Practical Magic 2” conjures a box-office victory this weekend, topping the North American charts nearly three decades after its predecessor.
'Practical Magic 2' conjures a No. 1 box office debut with $30 million
“Practical Magic 2” conjures a box-office victory this weekend, topping the North American charts nearly three decades after its predecessor.
How the WNBA became a political prop in the culture wars
Despite record viewership and attendance, and amazing talent across the league, the WNBA has been caught up in the national conversation about the culture wars. Sportswriter Sabreena Merchant says, “everything in the WNBA seems to take on a political lens far beyond what is actually happening on the court.” Merchant spoke with Fresh Air guest interviewer Sam Fragoso (host of Talk Easy) about the expansion of the WNBA, the race and gender politics consuming the narrative, and the departure of commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Merchant writes for The Athletic, from the New York Times.Also, film critic Justin Chang reviews Practical Magic 2. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air Archives
From Practical Magic 2 to Saturday Night Live UK: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Bullock and Kidman try to put a second spell on you in the fantasy comedy sequel, while the topical sketch show returns after a well-regarded debut
Nicole Kidman looks wonderfully witchy in ‘Practical Magic 2’ preview
The film, starring Kidman and Sandra Bullock, whizzes into theaters — presumably on broomsticks — Sept. 11.
‘Practical Magic 2’ conjures a No. 1 box office debut with $30 million
“Practical Magic 2” conjures a box-office victory this weekend, topping the North American charts nearly three decades after its predecessor.
Is Aidan Quinn in 'Practical Magic 2'?
Aidan Quinn is sadly not part of the Practical Magic 2 cast, despite starring in the original 1998 movie. The 67-year-old actor played the detective in
The Fashion Politics Of Nicole Kidman’s Pieter Mulier Versace Debut
At the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Practical Magic 2’, Nicole Kidman offered the first glimpse of Pieter Mulier’s vision for Versace.
Heading to Queen City Mischief & Magic 2026? Here's the ultimate guide
Staunton hosts the Queen City Mischief & Magic' festival featuring new 'Wizard of Oz' attractions. Here's your guide, with schedule and highlights.
Sandra Bullock reveals her son and daughter have secret ‘Practical Magic 2’ cameos
Sandra Bullock doesn’t share much about her kids, Louis and Laila, but she’s spilled that they appear in ‘Practical Magic 2.’
Is 'Practical Magic 2' worth watching? The sequel took 28 years to happen — and critics say the reunion is complicated.
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman return as the Owens sisters alongside Joey King and Maisie Williams in the witchy cult classic's long-awaited sequel.
Nicole Kidman & Sandra Bullock on Reuniting for 'Practical Magic 2' & the Fans Who Made It Happen
Business Briefs: Sept. 4, 2026
Garden Cinemas plans special events for ‘Practical Magic 2’ release GREENFELD — The Garden Cinemas is bringing “Practical Magic 2,” the long-awaited PG 13 sequel to the 1998 classic starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, to the city not only through a themed float in the Franklin County Fair Parade, but with two events. “Practical […]
“Practical Magic 2” star Maisie Williams once paid an Etsy witch to help land a film role
“She told me some things I had to say every night,” the actress revealed.
'Practical Magic' was filmed in this WA town. It left a legacy
Ahead of the Sept. 10 release of “Practical Magic 2,” we visit Coupeville on Whidbey Island, where the original movie was filmed.
For Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, ‘Practical Magic 2’ heals old wounds
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman view “Practical Magic” very differently today than they did when they made it 28 years ago.
“Practical Magic” star Alexandra Artrip addresses being recast in sequel after Evan Rachel Wood’s comments
Artrip portrayed Antonia in the original film, a character Maisie Williams now plays in “Practical Magic 2.”
'Practical Magic 2' conjures a No. 1 box office debut with $30 million
“Practical Magic 2” conjures a box-office victory this weekend, topping the North American charts nearly three decades after its predecessor | KNX News 1070 AM
Sandra Bullock recalls ‘pervert’ asking her to drop her pants while auditioning: ‘Not the role for me’
The Oscar winner stars in “Practical Magic 2,” now in theaters.