The act, which returns to the Now You See Me series, has risen to the top of the box office charts ahead of other new releases over the weekend, The Running Man and Keeper.
Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” raked in $8.4 million on Friday and at previews at 3,403 locations. The PG-13-rated threequel is expected to gross between $21 million and $24 million over its three-day opening, which is roughly in line with expectations before the weekend and for its previous entry in 2016, which opened with $22 million.
Critics gave “Now You Don’t” mediocre reviews, but it was the best of the trilogy. Meanwhile, audiences are trending positively with a “B+” rating (though lower than the “A-” ratings of both previous entries), according to moviegoer polling company CinemaScore. Lionsgate has spent more than $90 million to revive the series, directed by Ruben Fleischer and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco as a quartet of Robin Hood-like illusionists. Both previous entries have made the majority of their sales overseas, and Lionsgate in particular typically sells international rights at the cost of capping upside to limit financial exposure.
Meanwhile, Paramount’s “The Running Man,” starring Glen Powell, will have to compete for second place with this weekend’s “Predator: Badlands” (which, interestingly, is an attempt to revive the film first introduced to moviegoers in the ’80s in the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle). The R-rated “Running Man” brought in $6.4 million on Friday and at previews at 3,534 locations. This puts the film’s debut on track for a lower-than-expected $20 million-plus, and is now expected to be in the $17 million to $19 million range.
It was an inauspicious start for the $110 million Stephen King adaptation, which was co-financed by Domain Entertainment. CinemaScore has a B+ rating and audiences have been positive, but reviews have been lukewarm. But with a busy November schedule including Wicked: For Good and Zootopia 2, Running Man could have created a stronger initial buzz to propel it into the coming weeks.
Also opening this weekend, Neon’s “The Keeper,” the latest indie horror feature from writer-director Osgood Perkins, earned about $1 million from 1,950 venues through Friday and screenings. He is aiming for a 5th place debut. This opening doesn’t compare to Perkins’ previous two films, last summer’s blockbuster “Long Legs” ($22 million) and this spring’s “The Monkey” ($14 million). Reviews were also worse than the previous two films, and the film received a dismal CinemaScore of D+.
Disney’s “Predator: Badlands” grossed $3.5 million in its second Friday, a 68% drop from its opening total a week ago. The sci-fi sequel currently has a domestic box office gross of $56 million and is expected to top $66 million by Sunday. Although it is a crossover film, it grossed $80.2 million in North America, surpassing Alien vs. Predator, which had the highest domestic box office revenue in the series’ history.
“Regretting You” closed out the top five with $1.2 million on Friday and is expected to stay strong again in its fourth weekend with $4 million, down 39%. The Paramount film, based on the original by Colleen Hoover, has grossed $45 million domestically through Sunday.
