‘Practical Magic 2’ Is Already Casting a Spell at the Box Office Before It Even Opens

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are stepping back into their witch hats nearly three decades after ‘Practical Magic’ first cast its spell on audiences, and Warner Bros. is hoping the reunion can turn into one of the fall season’s biggest box office draws. The sequel arrives with a mix of nostalgia and star power that studios rarely get to bottle twice.

The original 1998 film wasn’t a box office juggernaut in its initial run, but it built a devoted cult following over the years that has only grown louder as awareness of the sequel spread. That built-in fan base is exactly what Warner Bros. and producing partner Alcon are counting on as ‘Practical Magic 2’ opens in theaters.

Those hopes got an early boost when the film generated an estimated $3.5 million to $4 million in domestic previews after showtimes began Thursday at 2 p.m., according to Deadline. That number puts the sequel ahead of the preview totals for several comparable Bullock vehicles, including her 2022 adventure film ‘The Lost City,’ which brought in $2.5 million in previews before a $31 million three-day opening.

The preview haul also edges out the $1.1 million Thursday previews for the George Clooney and Julia Roberts romantic comedy ‘Ticket to Paradise,’ which went on to open at $16.5 million. Perhaps most notably, ‘Practical Magic 2’ outpaced the $3 million Thursday previews for Warner Bros. and MRC’s ‘Wuthering Heights,’ a film that ultimately turned into a $32.8 million three-day opening weekend.

Deadline reported that even a conservative opening between $30 million and $35 million domestically would represent a solid result for the $70 million net production. The film will also benefit from premium large-format screens this weekend, notably Dolby Cinema, with Alcon financing half of the reunion between Bullock and Kidman.

Other outlets have offered slightly rosier projections. Variety reported that nostalgia should help push the sequel toward $30 million to $40 million from roughly 4,000 North American theaters in its opening weekend, a number that would be enough to knock ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ out of the top spot after its six-weekend reign atop the domestic box office.

Internationally, ‘Practical Magic 2’ is targeting another $18 million to $25 million from 77 territories, according to Variety, which would put the film’s total global opening haul somewhere between $48 million and $65 million. Deadline’s own global outlook lands in a similar range, projecting $58 million to $63 million worldwide against a $75 million production budget, a total that would already surpass the original film’s full lifetime worldwide gross of $51.3 million.

The story picks up 25 years after the events of the first movie, following a multigenerational family of witches cursed to be loveless for centuries as they attempt to break the spell by confronting old secrets and making sacrifices for one another. Susanne Bier directs the follow-up, which reunites Bullock and Kidman as the Owens sisters at the center of the franchise.

Reviews for ‘Practical Magic 2’ have been considerably rougher than the box office outlook, with the sequel currently sitting at 36 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Deadline noted that critics weren’t exactly kind to the original film either, which holds a 29 percent Rotten score of its own despite its beloved status among fans decades later.

That gap between critical reception and audience enthusiasm is often where nostalgia-driven sequels find their real strength, and ‘Practical Magic 2’ appears positioned to lean into that dynamic as it heads into its opening weekend. With strong previews already in the bank and PLF screens working in its favor, the film looks set to give Warner Bros. one of its stronger fall openings regardless of what critics think.

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