Movie Monday: ‘Practical Magic 2’ Materializes at No. 1

The box-office run of Spider-Man: Brand New Day couldn’t last forever—even if it felt like it could.

After six weeks perched at the pinnacle of the box-office standings, Brand New Day found itself in second place behind Practical Magic 2. The sorcerous sequel earned an estimated $30 million in North America this weekend, landing atop the standings with a wave of a wand. Add in another $16 million from overseas markets, and PM2 conjured up a tidy $46 million.

Still, the win was less than magical. Despite reuniting Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and being powered by the nostalgia of its 1998 forbear, Practical Magic, the  spellcasting follow-up fell well short of initial box-office prognostications. (Deadline Hollywood suggested the film would likely earn $40 million stateside during its opening frame.)  

Spider-Man: Brand New Day indeed showed some signs of vulnerability this weekend. Sony’s superhero flick collected a mere $8.4 million in North America. But as a consolation prize, Brand New Day has come within a spider’s thread distance of Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens on the box office’s all-time list. With $935.2 million, Brand New Day is now just $1.5 million behind The Force Awakens and its $936.7 million. Oh, and Brand New Day has collected nearly $2.5 billion worldwide.

And speaking of giant, Cyclops-sized money makers, The Odyssey spent its 9^th consecutive weekend in the top three. It earned $7.4 million to push its own titanic take to $600.5 million. Overall, Christopher Nolan’s little film has now earned $1.7 billion around the globe.

The newcomer Runner took fourth place with about $6.4 million. Meanwhile, Coyote vs. Acme—the only real strong option for family viewing at the theaters this weekend—finished fifth with $4.1 million. Coyote and company have now earned $45.6 million stateside and $65 million worldwide. Given that Ketchup Entertainment bought that flick from Warner Bros. for $50 million and spent $10 million on advertising and whatnot, Ketchup has now seemingly passed its break-even point.

All arrows point downward for The Uprising, which earned less than $3.3 million for ninth place.