Key Takeaways
Total 3-Day Weekend Gross:
$75,212,496 | -9.5% Last Week / +7.1% Weekend 46, 2024
Two newcomers (Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, The Running Man) managed to open right in the middle of our forecasting panel’s expectations this week, with the sophomore frame of Predator: Badlands slightly underperforming.
- Top Title: Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (Lionsgate) | $21.3M / 3,403 Screens / $6,259 PSA | Week 1
- Top Opener: Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (Lionsgate) | $21.3M / 3,403 Screens / $6,259 PSA | Week 1
- Best PSA: Arco (Neon) | $38.28K / 2 Screens / $19,143 PSA | Week 1
1. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t
Lionsgate | NEW
$21.3M 3-Day Opening Weekend | $75.5M Global Total
Lionsgate scored one of their biggest debuts of the year (and first #1 opening weekend since January) with the threequel Now You See Me: Now You Don’t taking the top spot with an estimated $21.3M from 3,403 screens for a $6,259 Per Screen Average. That’s in line with Now You See Me 2, and could surpass come Monday actuals.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked, including $2.1M from Thursday previews…
- Friday – $8.4M
- Saturday – $7.7M
- Sunday – $5.2M
The PG-13 rating, along with general audience familiarity with the franchise, helped it sprint ahead of R-rated The Running Man, even though reviews (59% rotten on RT) and CinemaScore (“B+) were on par with the action title. Female ticket buyers are driving this one at 54%, another contrast to Running Man, while 65% of audiences were in the 25+ bracket.
The $21.3M bow is the lowest debut for the series after $29M and $22M, respectively. It’s also lower than Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson’s last outing together in Zombieland: Double Tap ($26.8M), also directed by Now You See Me 3‘s Ruben Fleischer.
The Now You See Me franchise has always been international-heavy, and the new one is no exception, taking in an impressive $54.2 million from 64 markets for a global total of $75.5M. A huge $19.2M chunk of that comes from China.
2. The Running Man
Paramount Pictures | NEW
$17M 3-Day Opening Weekend | $28.2M Global Total
Paramount Pictures’ big-budget Stephen King adaptation/remake, The Running Man, tripped over itself as it made its way to theaters with an estimated $17M from 3,534 locations for a $4,810 PSA. Pre-release tracking for this title dropped in the weeks leading to release, bowing on the bottom half of our $15-$25M range. Edgar Wright’s film settled for the #2 spot of the weekend, unable to overcome tepid reviews (64% Rotten Tomatoes critical, “B+” CinemaScore) while an overall bleak tone dampened the escapism factor.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked, including $1.9M from Thursday previews…
- Friday – $6.5M
- Saturday – $6.1M
- Sunday – $4.3M
Over-indexing occurred in major cities, such as Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Phoenix, Seattle, and Denver, with premium formats accounting for 43% of the overall domestic box office (including 18% from IMAX’s $2.9M). Audiences for the action-heavy film were majority male at 63% vs 37% female, with 53% of ticket buyers over age 30 (70% in the 18-44 bracket).
Here’s how demographics looked…
- 62%: Caucasian
- 17%: Hispanic
- 11%: Black
- 10%: Asian/Other
Overseas also slowed The Running Man‘s roll, with $11.2M from the first 58 international markets, which represents only 65% of the international footprint; 9 major markets remain, including France, Brazil, Spain, Korea, China, and Japan. Top 3 territories were Wright’s native UK with $3.3M, Germany ($1.1M), and Australia ($1M), with all other countries taking in less than a million per.
Other Notable Performances
With heavy competition from two new studio releases, 20th Century’s Predator: Badlands dropped a steep -68% in its sophomore frame to deliver an estimated $13M from 3,725 locations for a $3,490 PSA, landing in third position on the charts. That’s $2M below our forecasting panel’s lowest end prediction, while also below the parallel 2nd frame take of Alien: Romulus last year (-61% drop, $16.3M). Currently, the domestic total stands at $66.3M (franchise 2nd best, above the 1987 original and below AvP‘s $80M), while overseas it played better with $16.1M from 52 territories for a global total of $136.3M. China is the new Predator’s top international territory at $12.7M total, nowhere near Romulus‘ eventual $110.2M in the Middle Kingdom.
Neon released Keeper, their third horror outing with director Oz Perkins after Longlegs ($22.4M opening/$74.3M domestic) and The Monkey ($14M opening/$39.7M domestic), which took in an estimated $2.5M from 1,950 screens for a $1,282 PSA. Starring Tatiana Maslany, the new film was ill-received across the board, with 49% critical and 42% audience score on RT as well as a “D+” CinemaScore, low even for the genre.
To grease the wheels for next week’s Wicked: For Good, Universal re-released last year’s hit Wicked in theaters to place at #11 with $1.2M, bringing the first picture’s domestic total to $474.4M. The sequel will launch on the 21st in 4,000+ locations.
Next Weekend
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande return to sprinkle some magic on the box office for Universal’s sequel Wicked: For Good. Shot concurrently with the first film by director Jon M. Chu, the sequel has excellent early buzz out of the premiere in São Paulo yet will have to work hard to equal Part 1’s global take of $756.4M, especially considering international was almost half of domestic last time. Also on tap is Searchlight’s Rental Family, a dramedy starring Brendan Fraser which has received raves and Oscar predictions out of Toronto and other festivals, with RT critical at a current 96%.
Sunday Studio Estimates | Weekend 46 – 2025
Total 3-Day Domestic Gross: $75,212,496 | (+7.1% vs 2024)
| Title | Weekend Estimate | % Change | Locations | Location Change | PSA | Domestic Total | Week | Distributor |
| Now You See Me: Now You Don’t | $21,300,000 | 3,403 | $6,259 | 21,300,000 | 1 | Lionsgate | ||
| The Running Man | $17,000,000 | 3,534 | $4,810 | 17,000,000 | 1 | Paramount | ||
| Predator: Badlands | $13,000,000 | -68% | 3,725 | n/c | $3,490 | 66,304,860 | 2 | 20th Century |
| Regretting You | $5,000,000 | -25% | 2,709 | -487 | $1,846 | 45,959,000 | 4 | Paramount |
| Black Phone 2 | $2,650,000 | -49% | 2,419 | -524 | $1,095 | 74,672,000 | 5 | Universal |
| Keeper | $2,500,000 | 1,950 | $1,282 | 2,500,000 | 1 | Neon | ||
| Nuremberg | $2,435,000 | -37% | 1,830 | 28 | $1,331 | 8,491,000 | 2 | Sony |
| Sarah’s Oil | $2,341,034 | -45% | 2,410 | n/c | $971 | 8,657,143 | 2 | Amazon MGM |
| Bugonia | $1,600,000 | -53% | 1,253 | -790 | $1,277 | 15,678,000 | 4 | Focus Features |
| Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc | $1,600,000 | -53% | 1,420 | -865 | $1,127 | 41,231,000 | 4 | Sony |
| Wicked | $1,200,000 | 2,195 | $547 | 474,431,000 | 52 | Universal | ||
| Die, My Love | $977,160 | -63% | 1,437 | -546 | $680 | 4,973,754 | 2 | MUBI |
| Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere | $800,000 | -62% | 1,015 | -1,015 | $788 | 22,092,513 | 4 | 20th Century |
| Tron: Ares | $620,000 | -66% | 1,020 | -835 | $608 | 72,727,406 | 6 | Walt Disney |
| One Battle After Another | $500,000 | -41% | 251 | -152 | $1,992 | 70,176,000 | 8 | Warner Bros. |
| Sentimental Value | $380,241 | 90% | 28 | 24 | $13,580 | 663,003 | 2 | Neon |
| Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Infi… | $186,000 | -32% | 183 | -38 | $1,016 | 133,886,000 | 10 | Sony |
| Roofman | $165,000 | -61% | 254 | -291 | $650 | 22,690,000 | 6 | Paramount |
| Good Fortune | $140,000 | -76% | 212 | -534 | $660 | 16,541,648 | 5 | Lionsgate |
| Back to the Future | $134,000 | -86% | 275 | -1,081 | $487 | 224,933,000 | 2,107 | Universal |
| It Was Just an Accident | $122,500 | -35% | 110 | -9 | $1,114 | 1,116,424 | 5 | Neon |
| Muzzle: City of Wolves | $90,000 | 575 | $157 | 90,000 | 1 | IFC | ||
| Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie | $65,000 | -51% | 134 | -86 | $485 | 31,998,000 | 8 | Universal |
| Peter Hujar’s Day | $49,600 | 4% | 24 | 20 | $2,067 | 118,871 | 2 | Janus Films |
| Arco | $38,285 | 2 | $19,143 | 38,285 | 1 | Neon | ||
| Sirat | $34,057 | 2 | $17,029 | 34,057 | 1 | Neon | ||
| Rebuilding | $29,145 | 2 | $14,573 | 29,145 | 1 | Bleecker Street | ||
| If I Had Legs I’d Kick You | $19,422 | -68% | 38 | -74 | $511 | 1,079,102 | 6 | A24 |
| Mistress Dispeller | $4,234 | -55% | 8 | 3 | $529 | 60,683 | 4 | Oscilloscope |
| CatVideoFest 2025 | 3,535 | -49% | 2 | -4 | $1,768 | 1,033,627 | 16 | Oscilloscope |
| Peacock | $932 | -11% | 2 | n/c | $466 | 18,156 | 9 | Oscilloscope |
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