“Now You See Me 3″ Tops Weekend Box Office With $21.3 Million Debut
“Now You See Me 3” conjured up $21.3 million in its opening weekend, outperforming “Running Man,” which earned $8.4 million in its second week of release. The magician heist thriller’s strong start signals a potential boost for the summer box office, which has faced challenges with consistent blockbuster performance.
The success of “Now You See Me 3” is a win for Lionsgate, which produced the film for a modest $6 million. Director Osgood perkins aims to replicate this commercial success with next year’s horror film, “the Young People,” starring tatiana Maslany and Nicole Kidman. Meanwhile, Paramount’s “regretting You” continued to perform steadily, adding $4 million to its domestic total of $44.9 million. Universal’s “The Black Phone 2” rounded out the top five with $2.6 million, bringing its stateside haul to $74.7 million after five weeks.
Despite critical acclaim and Oscar buzz, Warner Bros.’ “One Battle After Another” is facing a significant financial loss. While the film has grossed $70 million domestically and $200 million globally, its $140 million production cost necessitates a $300 million breakeven point, leading to a projected ”very steep write-down.”
The domestic box office reached just over $75 million for the weekend, slightly exceeding the $73.2 million earned during the same period last year, driven by Dwayne Johnson’s “Red One.” Anticipation is building for next weekend’s release of “Wicked: For Good,” which theater owners hope will revitalize business following “one of the worst falls” in moviegoing history. Universal’s re-release of “Wicked” contributed $1.2 million to the weekend total.
“We’re in the calm before the Thanksgiving storm,” says box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “Things are about to heat up.”
