‘Practical Magic 2’ Is Tracking for a Genuinely Wild Box Office Number, and Nobody Saw This Coming

Hollywood’s obsession with reviving late-’90s and early-2000s favorites has produced a mixed bag of results this year, from modest returns to full-blown box office duds. Against that backdrop, ‘Practical Magic 2’ has been quietly building buzz for months, riding a wave of nostalgia for the original’s witchy sisterhood and Stevie Nicks-scored charm.

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are both back as Sally and Gillian Owens, joined by Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing reprising their roles as the aunts, alongside newcomers Joey King and Maisie Williams. The film hits theaters Sept. 10, and early buzz has steadily shifted from cautious optimism to something closer to genuine excitement.

Now the numbers are backing that excitement up. Industry trackers are projecting ‘Practical Magic 2’ to open north of $40 million domestically, with some estimates pushing as high as $50 million for its debut weekend.

That kind of range would mark a massive leap for the franchise. The original 1998 film opened to just $13.1 million domestically and finished its entire theatrical run with $46.7 million in North America, meaning the sequel could match or exceed the first movie’s total lifetime haul in a single opening weekend.

According to Box Office Pro, the projected range would also make ‘Practical Magic 2’ the first Warner Bros. release of 2026 to cross the $40 million mark on its opening weekend domestically. That’s a notable distinction for a studio that’s had a rocky year at the box office, and it suggests the sequel could end up being one of WB’s biggest surprises of 2026.

Part of what makes the projection so striking is the competition it’s up against. The films opening alongside ‘Practical Magic 2’ next weekend, including the action title ‘Runner,’ the drama ‘The Uprising,’ and the documentary ‘Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger,’ are all tracking in the single-digit millions, leaving the Owens sisters with essentially no real threat at the multiplex.

Some trackers are even more bullish. Box Office Theory has pegged the film’s opening as high as $46.5 million, while other estimates put the ceiling closer to $54 million if presales continue trending the way they have been. Reports have pointed to unusually strong advance ticket sales as a key driver behind the optimism, a signal that’s often treated as a reliable indicator heading into a big weekend.

For context on just how unusual this trajectory is, the original ‘Practical Magic’ made a combined $68.3 million worldwide against a reported $75 million budget and was considered a box office disappointment at the time despite eventually becoming a cult favorite on home video and cable. The sequel now stands to potentially outearn that entire global total in North America alone within its first few days.

Comparisons have already started circulating to other female-led franchise revivals that overperformed expectations, with some pointing to films like ‘It Ends With Us’ as the closest analog in terms of how a strong female audience turnout can translate into outsized numbers. If ‘Practical Magic 2’ lands anywhere near its higher projections, it could also crack the list of the biggest September openings of all time, even if it likely won’t dethrone ‘It,’ which still holds the record for the month.

Of course, tracking numbers are just that: early estimates that can shift right up until opening night. But for a franchise that spent nearly three decades being remembered more for its soundtrack and cult status than its box office performance, even landing at the low end of these projections would represent a genuine turnaround.

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