Rain has drenched Southern California this weekend, but it was sunny skies for Lionsgate, which got a much-needed hit with “Now You See Me Now You Don’t.” The third installment of the Ruben Fleischer-directed franchise pulled in $21.3 million for no. 1 at the U.S. box office and $75.5 million worldwide. It’s the best debut for a Lionsgate release since “Ballerina: From The World of John Wick” took in a then-disappointing $24 million in June.
Reviews weren’t great (50 on Metacritic, a rotten 58% on Rotten Tomatoes), but “Now You Don’t” did earn a B+ CinemaScore rating, which means it shouldn’t fall off completely next weekend when an expected monster, “Wicked for Good,” arrives. Moreover, the reportedly $90 million budgeted flick has already grossed $19.2 million in China alone, where the franchise has a significant fanbase. Lionsgate is already expecting this magic trick to come up roses when all is said and done.
Second place went to Edgar Wright’s “The Running Man,” which earned $17 million domestic and $28.2 million global so far. Like “Now You See Me,” tracking cast a wide net for this one with a potential $20+ million debut. It also suffered from mixed reviews (56 on Metacritic, 64% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a B+ CinemaScore. At a reported $110 million production budget, Paramount is going to have to hope this new adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 novel overperforms overseas. It will raise questions about Glen Powell’s box office star power (he might not be there yet), but Wright’s aesthetic choices may have turned off some viewers. In previews and clips, the movie never looked as epic or expensive as its budget.
Shockingly, “Predator: Badlands” fell 68% for another $13 million and $66 million so far despite supposed excellent word of mouth (a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.6/10 on IMDB). It appears “Now You See Me” and “Running Man” just ate too much into this flick’s core audience of men over 25. There was a concern that post-release surveys indicated under-25s were still not interested in the genre franchise, which appears to have been warranted. The movie has still earned $170 million worldwide so far.
In fourth place, “Regretting You” dropped just 25% for another $5 million and $45 million domestic and $83.4 million global so far. It has an excellent shot of coming close to $100 million worldwide when all is said and done. At just a $30 million production budget, the adaptation of Colleen Hoover‘s 2019 novel is a nice single down the line for Paramount.
Osgood Perkins‘ third film in the last 18 months also appears to be his lowest-grossing of the trio. “Keeper,” which earned middling reviews (52 on both Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes) took in just $2.5 million in 1,950 theaters. The Tatiana Maslany thriller cost just $6 million, so NEON will have to hope international pre-sales cover the production and marketing costs. Especially with a terrible D+ CinemaScore in the U.S.
Updated worldwide totals for films still in theaters: “One Battle After Another” hit $200 million, “Bugonia” is now at $30.4 million, “Nuremberg” has earned $8.4 million, “Black Phone 2” has reached $127.2 million, “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” has slashed its way to $161 million while “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” climbed to $40 million.
New releases on Friday include “Wicked for Good,” “Rental Family,” and “Sisu: Road to Revenge.”
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Bluesky
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Threads
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Instagram
Sign Up For The Breakdown Newsletter
Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
