Practical Magic 2 Is Out Now — Sandra Bullock & Nicole Kidman's Witchy Reunion Divides Critics but Charms the Box Office

Practical Magic 2 Is Out Now — Sandra Bullock & Nicole Kidman's Witchy Reunion Divides Critics but Charms the Box Office

Midnight margaritas are back on the menu. Nearly three decades after the original became a beloved cult classic, Practical Magic 2 has finally hit theaters, reuniting Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as the Owens sisters — and the internet has a lot of feelings about it.

Directed by Susanne Bier for Warner Bros., the fantasy sequel opened this weekend with a projected $58M–$63M global debut, including a strong $3.5M+ in Thursday previews domestically. That is exactly the kind of spell Warner Bros. needed after a rough year at the box office — and it is helping kick off the fall moviegoing season after a record-breaking $4.76B summer.

Critics Are Split, but Fans Are Showing Up Anyway

Here is the thing: reviews have been... rough. The film's Rotten Tomatoes score landed in splat territory, with critics arguing the sequel should have stuck closer to the original's spell book. Forbes and AP both published lukewarm-to-negative takes, questioning whether the magic survived the 28-year gap since the 1998 original.

But audiences clearly do not care what the Tomatometer says. Nostalgia is doing the heavy lifting here, and honestly? It makes sense. The original Practical Magic — starring Bullock and Kidman alongside Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing — flopped on release but grew into a generational comfort-watch favorite through cable reruns and streaming. Both Wiest and Channing return for the sequel, which is pure fan-service catnip.

• Returning cast: Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest, Stockard Channing
• New additions: a younger generation of Owens witches (perfect sequel bait)
• Director: Susanne Bier (Bird Box, The Night Manager)
• Studio: Warner Bros., betting big on fall box office momentum

Can It Save Warner Bros.' Year?

IndieWire framed the stakes bluntly: after a string of high-profile misses undid the studio's stellar 2025, Practical Magic 2 needs to be a genuine hit. Early tracking suggests it will be — at least a solid mid-range one. A $60M-ish global opening for a legacy sequel with a modest budget is nothing to sneeze at, and word-of-mouth among millennial women (the core audience) could give it long legs through October.

It is also riding a bigger wave: '90s nostalgia sequels are officially Hollywood's favorite business model right now. From Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to Freakier Friday, studios have learned that millennials will absolutely show up for the franchises they grew up with — even when critics groan.

The bottom line: Practical Magic 2 may not be a critical darling, but with Bullock and Kidman's chemistry intact, the aunts back in action, and a box office debut that beat expectations, this witchy reunion is casting exactly the spell it needed to. Grab your coven, order the midnight margaritas, and go see it on the big screen — flawed sequels and all.