Nicole Kidman's 104-Minute Fantasy Classic Takes Over HBO Max

The fantasy genre so often thrives during the Fall box office. Sepia skies and falling leaves make for the perfect backdrop to magical movies, such as Laika's latest stop-motion masterpiece, Wildwood. Having been 15 years in the making, with the company first acquiring the rights to the source material when helping produce its trailer in 2011, Wildwood received gushing praise from critics upon release, with Collider's Aidan Kelley writing that "Wildwood soars above" every other Laika movie.

But for all the high praise that this so-called "masterpiece" is receiving, it is struggling to prove popular at the box office. Against a production budget of $100 million, the movie has only returned $30 million so far, a frustrating reality in an age when watching hand-crafted artistry is more important than ever. But Wildwood isn't the only fantasy movie to struggle at the box office this season. Against a $75 million budget, the bewitching legacy sequel Practical Magic 2 only returned $105 million worldwide in a theatrical run that is all but complete.

This underwhelming return was, in part, due to a negative response from both fans and critics to the movie, despite both Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock reprising their roles as Gillian and Sally Owens, sisters descended from a long line of witches. "Practical Magic 2 is painfully forgettable, with no particularly clever or impactful quotes, impressive setpieces, or emotionally resonant moments that will stay with you after the credits roll," wrote Collider's Taylor Gates in one of many disappointed reviews. But Practical Magic 2's loss is seemingly the original's gain. As the sequel whimpers out of theaters, 1998's Practical Magic is one of the ten most-watched movies on HBO Max in the U.S., proving that the franchise (or at the very least the original movie) still has some staying power all these years later.

How Much Did 'Practical Magic' Make at the Box Office?

The recent sequel has failed to make the desired impact at the box office, but how did the first Practical Magic movie fare in theaters? Against a $60 million budget, the film flopped back in 1998 with a global haul of just $68 million. This is despite opening at #1 in October 1998, outperforming fellow debutant Bride of Chucky. It took only four weeks for Practical Magic to drop out of the domestic top 5, all but assuring it's status as a box office bomb.