Franchises and a re-adaptation ruled the way this weekend as theaters prepare for the winter season to kick into overdrive the next few weeks and, boy, could it use it. Even with all the familiar names this weekend it was still the lowest November weekend since the kickoff in 2023 when the only new films were Meg Ryan’s directorial debut and a limited release Eugenio Derbez film. And it still beat this weekend. Actually it’s the lowest top ten for November since the beginning of the pandemic and, beyond that, the lowest since 1996. No wonder the Pope held a meeting and gave a speech on the importance of movie theaters and the cultural importance of films.
KING of the Crop: Now You See Me: Now You Don’t Conjures $21.3M to Win Weekend
The first Now You See Me film was a surprise hit in the summer of 2013, just as Lionsgate was getting into the franchise business, with a $29.3 million start, $117.7 million domestic, and over $351 million worldwide. Three years later, the sequel opened in June to $22.5 million but topped out much quicker domestically at $65 million. But when they still pulled in $334 million globally on the $90 million-budgeted film, a third installment was inevitable. It may have taken nine years, but the thieving Four Horsemen magicians are back in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. These films have never exactly been critical darlings, but this one has the best score of the batch with a marginally rotten 59%, up from the 51% and 34% of the first two. And domestic audiences aren’t completely done with them, as it grossed $21.3 million over the weekend. Worldwide is where the $90 million film is looking to butter its bread, though, and it has started with $75 million total.
Tales of the top 10: The Running Man starts in second, Predator: Badlands Falls to Third
When asked if there was any movie he would love to remake, Edgar Wright named one film. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently revealed that there was one film he wished he had a second crack at. They both referred to the same film: The Running Man. Schwarzenegger (and even Tom Cruise) shared their love for Wright’s re-adaptation of Stephen “Richard Bachmann” King’s book. Critics have been less enthusiastic, with a marginally fresh rating of 64% on the Tomatometer, slightly better than the 1987 version (59%). If we inflated the opening weekend of the Schwarzenegger film, it would amount to roughly $23.2 million in today’s dollars. Wright’s version just opened to $17 million.
This is probably a bit of a disappointment for Paramount, hoping a bit of nostalgia for a less-than-successful film would translate into goodwill for a more faithful version. Wright’s Baby Driver began with $20.5 million back in the summer of 2017 and went on to gross over $107 million domestic and nearly $227 million worldwide. Running Man has begun with a $28 million global haul. There have been 35 November openings in the $15-20 million region. All but 10 of them reached at least $50 million, but only three have since 2010. That’s a small consolation for the biggest budget of Wright’s career with $110 million. But it’s the best odds we can give the film at this point.
Predator: Badlands took a big 68% dip from its $40 million opening last weekend down to $13 million. But it has only taken 10 days for Dan Trachtenberg’s film to be the second-highest grossing domestic release in the entire franchise with $66.3 million. There was hope the numbers would look a little closer to that of Creed II, but the second weekend has more in common with another sequel: Dumb and Dumber To. That one fell to $14 million in weekend two after a $36.1 million opening. This drop now puts a potential damper on Badlands being the first Predator film to cross $100 million. The good news is that it still has Thanksgiving week to help boost it, just when it needs that push to help it get over the milestone, but this could be looking more like a $95 million gross than anyone expected last week. More importantly, it wants to be the first Predator film to gross over $200 million worldwide. The closer it gets to $250 million, the easier it will be to declare the film in profit when it leaves theaters. Right now it stands at $136 million globally, and the reality is setting in that this franchise — no matter how good it might get — has a ceiling, and it has not significantly grown its fanbase over 38 years.
The numbers for Colleen Hoover’s Regretting You may not be in the same league as last year’s It Ends With Us, but it is turning into a nice little hit for Paramount. Word-of-mouth has really propelled this since its lukewarm opening of $13.6 million. Now in its fourth weekend with another $4 million, it is at nearly $45 million domestic and enough global reach to put this into profit. Again, not It Ends With Us profit, but a win is always a win, and this week it will have one of the 10 best multiples from opening to final gross for a wide release this year — a list that currently includes Sinners, One Of Them Days, The Bad Guys 2, Jurassic World: Rebirth, Heart Eyes, Paddington in Peru, Elio, Weapons, Sketch, and F1: The Movie.
Scott Derrickson’s Black Phone 2 is now the highest-grossing film to be released this October. Another $2.6 million this weekend was more than enough to pass Tron: Ares for the top spot in what was the worst October since 1998, when your highest grossers that month were Antz, Rush Hour, and What Dreams May Come. Black Phone 2 is up to $74.6 million domestic and past $125 million worldwide. Not bad at all for a $30 million budget. It is also the first time a horror film released during the month of Halloween ended up winning it since Saw IV back in 2007.
Sony Classics had a banner showing with the opening of Nuremberg last weekend. The $3.8 million start in their widest release ever was also their biggest opening ever. This week it made another $2.6 million to bring its total to $8.7 million, already their second-highest grossing film since the pandemic. Becoming Led Zeppelin earlier this year grossed $10.4 million, becoming their first $10 million domestic grosser since 2015’s The Lady in the Van. Nuremberg is slated to become the second.
Neon has had success in the way they have handled Osgood Perkins’ films. Last year’s Longlegs was an unquestionable hit, creating a mystery around what it even was, opening it to a $22.4 million weekend, and cruising to over $74 million domestic and $126 million worldwide on a $10 million budget. Earlier this year his adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, The Monkey, opened to $14 million, got close to $40 million domestic, and nearly tallied $69 million worldwide on an $11 million budget. That film even arrived with a promise (or warning, depending on your Osgood mileage) that he had another film in the pipeline for 2025.
That was Keeper, featuring brief Monkey co-star Tatiana Maslany. They kept this one so secret that they withheld screenings from most press in the country outside of New York and Los Angeles and held those reviews off for as long as they could. You know, to “preserve the secret” — a common phrase used as a shield for the real secret, which is “They know this ain’t good.” But the reviews did arrive. 50% of critics approve, and only $2.5 million in customers paid for the experience in 1,950 theaters. It is the lowest Tomatometer score of Perkins’ career, with the previous low being the 59% of I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House for Netflix.
Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia has had a decent little run after its expansion. Another $1.6 million in its third week of extension brings it up to $15.6 million. That is the third-best tally for a film to open in limited release. The Phoenician Scheme and Friendship both started in six theaters and ended up making $19.5 million and $16.2 million, respectively. Bugonia will at least pass Friendship. The best limited release expansions since the pandemic have been Everything Everywhere All At Once ($77.1 million), A Man Called Otto ($64.2 million), and Lanthimos’ own Poor Things ($34.5 million). We Live In Time is the only platform release since 2024 to gross over $20 million.
Also in the top 10 this week, Amazon/MGM’s Sarah’s Oil made $2.3 million to bring its total to $8.6 million. Finally, finishing a four-week run in the top 10 is the anime film Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, which grossed $1.6 million to bring its domestic total over $41 million and global total over $160 million. Meanwhile, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie – Infinity Castle made another $52 million in China this weekend to bring its global total to $730 million.
Beyond the top 10: Wicked Re-Releases, One Battle After Another Crosses $200M Worldwide
In preparation for next week’s flock, Universal re-released Wicked in 2,195 theaters and it added $1.2 million to its theatrical total. Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love fell to $977,000 in its second weekend. Mubi is hoping Jennifer Lawrence will play a big part in this season’s award conversation. The movie has made $4.9 million so far. A film definitely in the awards convo is Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value which moved into 28 theaters this weekend where it grossed $380,000. Neon can compare their move to other films that moved from 4-to-28 theaters such as sex, lies and videotape ($602,760), Nebraska ($325,755), Irrational Man ($255,243), The Matador ($233,072) and this year’s Splitsville ($175,082), also from Neon. Value has made $663,000 to date. Finally, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another has crossed the $200 million mark worldwide.
On the Vine: Wicked: For Good Arrives
The conclusion (or second act) of the Broadway adaptation that began in movie theaters last November arrives in Wicked: For Good. Certain to be one of the biggest openings of the year, it is also hoping to find some glory at the Oscars. Sony is releasing its own sequel (picked up from Lionsgate) in Sisu: Road To Revenge. The action film currently boasts a 95% on the Tomatometer after its premiere at Fantastic Fest in September. Searchlight Pictures is also releasing the well-reviewed (96%) Rental Family, starring Brendan Fraser.
Full List of Box Office Results: November 14-16, 2025
- Now You See Me: Now You Don’t – $21.3 million ($21.3 million total)
- The Running Man – $17.0 million ($17.0 million total)
- Predator: Badlands – $13.0 million ($66.3 million total)
- Regretting You – $4.0 million ($44.9 million total)
- Black Phone 2 – $2.6 million ($74.6 million total)
- Nuremberg – $2.6 million ($8.7 million total)
- Keeper – $2.5 million ($2.5 million total)
- Sarah’s Oil – $2.3 million ($8.6 million total)
- Bugonia – $1.6 million ($15.6 million total)
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc – $1.6 million ($41.2 million total)
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail image by ©Lionsgate
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