" Now You See Me: Now You Don't " did a cool trick, beating Glen Powell's action thriller "The Running Man" and the second weekend of "Predator: Badlands," a reboot of the long-running monster movie series.
The third film in the "Now You See Me" series made $21.3 million over the weekend, which is good for a series that hasn't had a new movie since 2016.
The film also made $54.2 million in 64 countries, bringing its worldwide total to $75.5 million.
Paul Dergarabedian, who studies movie trends for ComScore, said, "This is still a good franchise.
The international audience really helped the film."
This is good news for Lionsgate, the studio behind "Now You See Me: Now You Don't," which hasn't had many hits lately (some of their movies like "Ballerina" and "Good Fortune" didn't do well).
This could mean Lionsgate's luck is turning around. Upcoming movies include "The Housemaid," an adaptation of a best-selling book by Freida McFadden, set for December, and "Michael," a movie about Michael Jackson, as well as "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping," coming out in 2026. Ruben Fleischer, who directed "Venom" and "Zombieland," directed "Now You See Me: Now You Don't," with stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco returning. A fourth movie is in the works.
Kevin Grayson, who handles distribution for Lionsgate, said, "We gave the audience exactly what they wanted."
He said that by bringing back main characters and adding new stars like Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, and Ariana Greenblatt, the movie was able to reach more people. "The new cast helped bring in younger viewers," Grayson said.
"The Running Man," which paired Powell with director Edgar Wright, didn't do as well as expected, taking second place with only $17 million.
Internationally, it earned $11.2 million for a global total of $28.2 million. That's a tough result, especially since Paramount spent $110 million to make the movie. It's also Powell's first weak showing since some of his other hits, like the rom-com "Anyone But You," "Top Gun: Maverick," and "Twisters." And it's not great news for Wright, who might have needed a box office success after his last movie, "Last Night in Soho," which opened in 2021 during the Omicron wave. Before the weekend, Paramount had hoped the movie would bring in more than $20 million. "The Running Man" was greenlit and made long before David Ellison's Skydance took over Paramount in August.
Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations, said, "This movie is not doing well."
He said it doesn't have enough appeal to make it through the upcoming holiday season.
The weekend's two major new movies appealed to different groups.
"The Running Man" had a mostly male audience, with 63% men and 70% between 18 and 44 years old. In contrast, "Now You See Me: Now You Don't" had 54% female viewers and 65% over 25 years old.
"The Running Man" is the second attempt to adapt Stephen King's dystopian novel; the first was a 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.
Schwarzenegger also starred in the original "Predator" movie, which was released in 1987 during his action star period. In its second weekend, "Predator: Badlands" dropped 68% to $13 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $66.3 million. The film cost $105 million to make and made $136.3 million globally.
Another major new movie, Neon's "Keeper," the latest horror film by writer-director Osgood Perkins, only made $2.5 million at its debut, which was seventh place.
That's much less than his earlier films like "Longlegs" ($22 million) and "The Monkey" ($14 million). Critics didn't like the movie, and audiences agreed, giving it a "D+" rating. That's not helpful for word-of-mouth. The only positive is that "Keeper" only cost $6 million to make. Perkins hopes to get back on track with his next movie, "The Young People," starring Tatiana Maslany and Nicole Kidman.
Paramount's "Regretting You," based on Colleen Hoover's novel, placed fourth in its fourth weekend with $4 million.
That brings its total domestic earnings to $44.9 million. Universal's "The Black Phone 2" rounded out the top five, making $2.6 million for a total of $74.7 million after five weeks.
In a major milestone, "One Battle After Another" reached $70 million at the domestic box office and $200 million globally after eight weekends.
That's a great achievement for an R-rated thriller, except for the fact that Warner Bros. paid director Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio $140 million to make the film. Critics called it a masterpiece and it got Oscar buzz, but the studio needed about $300 million just to break even, which means they're looking at a big financial loss.
The domestic box office reached just over $75 million, slightly higher than last year's $73.2 million driven by Dwayne Johnson's holiday comedy "Red One."
Next weekend, "Wicked: For Good" is coming, giving theater owners some hope after a tough year for the movie business. To get people excited, Universal re-released "Wicked," bringing in $1.2 million.
Dergarabedian said, "We're in the calm before the Thanksgiving storm.
Things are about to heat up."
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