Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman have cast exactly the spell Hollywood was hoping for.
Nearly three decades after Practical Magic became a cult favourite, its long-awaited sequel is heading for the top of the North American box office. Practical Magic 2 is currently projected to earn approximately $30 million from 4,146 cinemas during its opening weekend, making it the most popular movie in the country.
The Warner Bros. and Alcon Entertainment release collected an estimated $12.5 million on Friday after producing an impressive $4.7 million from Thursday previews. Its debut is expected to end the lengthy box-office reign of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which has dominated cinemas since July.
That is no small achievement. The latest Spider-Man adventure is approaching Star Wars: The Force Awakens' domestic record of $936.6 million, but even the superhero juggernaut could not resist the return of the Owens sisters.
Bullock and Kidman are back as Sally and Gillian Owens, the magically gifted sisters introduced in the 1998 original. That film mixed romance, family drama, comedy and supernatural danger-and developed an extraordinarily loyal following long after its theatrical release.
The sequel's success appears to be powered by nostalgia, the enduring chemistry between its two Oscar-winning stars and a new generation discovering the Owens family. According to Deadline, the movie is attracting strong interest from both millennial and Gen Z women.
The audience response has also been much warmer than the critical reception. While critics have been harsh on the sequel, moviegoers have awarded it a reported 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. That divide echoes the history of the first movie, which was poorly reviewed in 1998 but eventually escaped the critics' curse to become a beloved Halloween-season staple.
The projected $30 million debut is more than twice the original film's $13.1 million opening. It also places Practical Magic 2 alongside some of Bullock's stronger commercial launches, including The Lost City, which opened with $30.4 million in 2022.
The timing could hardly be better for Warner Bros. The studio has struggled to produce a major domestic hit in 2026, but the return of Bullock and Kidman may have finally delivered the crowd-pleasing success it needed.
Other movies are being forced to settle for the leftovers. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is expected to take approximately $8.3 million, while Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is tracking toward another $8.1 million. Coyote vs. Acme is projected to earn $5.8 million, followed by the Owen Wilson and Alan Ritchson action movie Runner with approximately $5.4 million.
For Christian families, however, Practical Magic 2 will require discernment. The franchise is built around witchcraft, spells and supernatural themes, even though its emotional appeal rests heavily upon sisterhood, love, family loyalty and breaking destructive generational patterns.
After 28 years, Sally and Gillian Owens have not merely returned. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman have reclaimed the top of the box office-and proved that audiences were still waiting for another dose of Practical Magic.
