“The Running Man” and “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” are heading toward a box office face-off as both movies are predicted to open with $20 million to $25 million this weekend.
Paramount’s dystopian thriller “The Running Man” has made $1.9 million in previews, while Lionsgate’s magic heist movie “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” edged it out $2.1 million.
Both movies are on track to beat last week’s box office champion, Disney’s “Predator: Badlands,” which is estimated to make $18 million to $20 million in its second weekend. That marks a typical 50% decline from last week’s franchise-best opening of $40 million.
Glen Powell stars in “The Running Man,” which is directed by Edgar Wright and based on Stephen King’s sci-fi novel. It follows a reality show where people must evade capture from the authorities for 30 days in order to win $1 billion. The cast also includes Josh Brolin, Colman Domingo, Michael Cera, Lee Pace, William H. Macy, Katy O’Brien, Martin Herlihy, Emilia Jones and more. It was co-financed by Domain Entertainment co-financed and has budget of $110 million, so it’ll need to stick around through Thanksgiving to run to a profit.
“Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” is the third entry is Lionsgate’s heist series starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan and Isla Fisher. The criminals, who are all professional magicians and thieves, reunite for another heist and bring along some newcomers to the franchise like Rosamund Pike, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt. The third film is directed by Ruben Fleischer and carries a budget of roughly $90 million.
