As theaters await the end-of-year bonanza set to start next weekend with “Wicked: For Good,” Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” is tiding them over with a $21.3 million opening weekend, beating Paramount’s “The Running Man” for the No. 1 spot.
That gives Lionsgate its first No. 1 since January, when “Den of Thieves: Pantera” and “Flight Risk” topped the charts during a sluggish post-holiday period. Before inflation adjustment, this opening weekend is on par with the $22 million opening of “Now You See Me 2” in 2016.
“Now You See Me 3” is also the second $20 million-plus opening for Lionsgate this year alongside the “John Wick” spinoff, “Ballerina.” Like that film, this threequel with an ensemble cast led by Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg carries a reported $90 million budget footed in good part through foreign presale, per Lionsgate’s usual strategy to lower its financial exposure.
While critics still aren’t enthused over the “Now You See Me” films, “Now You Don’t” carries a Rotten Tomatoes score of 59% that is the best in the series. Audience metrics include an 82% RT audience score and a B+ on CinemaScore, the latter being a step down from the A- for the previous two films.
“Now You See Me 3” will now try to match the $58 million theatrical run earned by “Ballerina” this past summer in the face of stiff competition from films like “Wicked: For Good” and “Zootopia 2” in the coming weeks.
Also facing that uphill challenge is “The Running Man,” which is opening below projections with a $17 million domestic launch. That’s just above the $16.8 million opening for Paramount’s considerably cheaper August comedy “The Naked Gun.”
“The Running Man” carries a reported $110 million budget, with Domain Entertainment providing an undisclosed portion of that budget through a slate financing deal.
Starring Glen Powell in a lighter, action-packed spin on one of Stephen King’s bleakest dystopian novels, “The Running Man” was placed in this early November slot as a potential alternative for male moviegoers uninterested in Disney animated films or colorful Broadway musical adaptations, similar to Paramount’s “Gladiator II” last year.
But while “Gladiator II” could ride off nostalgia from older moviegoers for the 2000 Oscar-winning sword-and-sandals classic, ‘The Running Man” might be facing competition from Disney/20th Century’s “Predator: Badlands” for its core audience resulting in an opening below projections for a $20 million-plus start. Reception for “Running Man” has been good but not exceptional, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 64% critics and 80% audience along with a B+ on CinemaScore.
Speaking of “Predator: Badlands,” it has followed up its surprising $40 million opening with a tough 67.5% drop to $13 million in its second weekend, giving it a 10-day total of $66.3 million domestic and $136 million worldwide.
While hopes that the well-received PG-13 action-adventure could significantly expand the fanbase of the 80s sci-fi franchise might be dimming, “Badlands” will at least pass the $160.5 million global run of “The Predator” in 2018 and should get into break-even territory theatrically, allowing the film to post a profit from post-theatrical streams.
The big misfire of the week is Neon’s “Keeper,” which has earned an opening weekend of just $2.5 million from 1,950 locations. For director Oz Perkins, it’s a far drop from the $22.4 million opening of his breakout 2024 hit “Longlegs” and the $14 million of his spring 2025 follow-up, “The Monkey.” The film has also fallen flat with audiences, earning a 42% RT score and a dismal D+ on CinemaScore.
More to come…
