Nostalgia and Star Power Brew a Perfect Potion | Movie Releases & Trends – Weekend of September 11, 2026

“Practical Magic 2” took the top spot with approximately $30 million, unseating “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” after six consecutive weekends at number one. Pair an established fan base with recognizable stars and nostalgia packs a punch.  

The sequel successfully brought Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman back together nearly 28 years after the original and gave audiences both familiarity and a reason to return to the theater.

Nostalgia Isn’t Limited to Original Viewers

Adults ages 18–34 represented 43% of the "Practical Magic 2" audience, demonstrating that nostalgia can be for movies discovered by audiences well after their original release. Younger audiences are increasingly discovering older properties through streaming, social media and cultural conversation — and then showing up theatrically when those properties are revived.

There are some useful comparisons. “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” which opened in May, attracted a similarly nostalgia-driven adult audience but generated more than twice the box office. A closer comparison is “Freakier Friday,” which debuted in August 2025 with a similar dollar performance and a similarly broad, nostalgia-oriented audience. 

The larger trend is hard to ignore: nostalgia has become an increasingly reliable theatrical currency that works best when the property has genuine cultural recognition and gives audiences a reason to experience the revival collectively rather than simply revisit it at home.

Angel Studios' Unconventional 'Runner' Campaign Laps the Competition on Admissions

Angel Studios' “Runner” opened to approximately $6.5 million, placing fourth for the weekend in revenue but second for admissions.

As they’ve been known to do, Angel Studios had a unique marketing approach. Angel Studios partnered with Strava for a creative "Run for Runner" campaign that requires fans to literally run for a free ticket. Fans who joined the "Run for Runner" challenge on Strava and completed a qualifying, continuous 5K run unlocked a free ticket. 

While the opening was softer, the movie is an interesting example of the studio expanding beyond its better-known faith-adjacent and values-focused positioning. “Runner” is a fast-paced, violent PG-13 action film that plays more like a traditional commercial action movie than the studio's typical fare.

The audience skewed heavily male, at 75%, which is consistent with the film's action positioning. The movie's appeal speaks to the continuing opportunity for studios to target clearly defined audience communities with relatively straightforward genre entertainment. Not every movie needs to be a four-quadrant blockbuster.

The Revolution Will Not Be Theatricalized

Paul Greengrass' historical drama “The Uprising” opened in just over 2,000 theaters and landed at number eight with approximately $3.3 million.

The film dramatizes the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England and has drawn attention for its intensity and action, although reviews have been mixed on the screenplay and pacing. Its performance is another reminder of how difficult it can be for adult-oriented historical dramas to break through theatrically without a major franchise, star-driven hook or particularly strong marketing campaign.

The final new entry of the weekend is “Hope,” which managed to break the top 10 despite opening in just over 1,500 theaters. Coming a decade after his acclaimed horror masterpiece “The Wailing,” writer-director Na Hong-jin generated immense anticipation for his South Korean science fiction thriller within the global film community. The movie also starred some well-known faces, including Hoyeon (Squid Games) as well as Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.

Evil on the horizon

The box office will get more interesting this week with Zach Cregger's “Resident Evil.”

Early tracking initially estimated a $35 million domestic opening, with strong early ticket sales pushing some forecasts toward $50 million. More aggressive tracking has it now at $60–$80 million. Time will tell if it can deliver. 

Regardless, the level of pre-release momentum is notable. Cregger is coming off “Barbarian” and “Weapons,” and his latest combines his growing reputation with one of the most recognizable horror/video-game properties in the world. The movie is also being positioned heavily in IMAX and other premium formats, giving it another potential box-office advantage.

Perhaps most importantly, September has quietly become one of the strongest launch windows for horror. Recent years have demonstrated that horror doesn't necessarily need the traditional summer or holiday corridor to generate event-level theatrical business.

If “Resident Evil” delivers on its current momentum, it would provide another data point supporting the idea that horror has moved well beyond its traditional role as counterprogramming and is increasingly capable of functioning as mainstream theatrical event cinema.

That makes the next few weeks quite interesting to watch. With “Resident Evil” arriving, followed by the broader fall release calendar, the box office is moving out of the quiet post-Labor Day corridor and into a stretch where genre, franchise recognition and highly targeted audiences will once again be competing for theatrical attention.

At its current pace, the industry remains on track to approach the $10 billion mark by year-end.  ‍

How Numetrix’s audience measurements can help drive insights

• How many tickets will be sold this coming weekend? Find out on our next Cinema Ranker for a box office forecast and follow us on LinkedIn to stay up to date with the latest cinema industry insights.

• To learn more about Numetrix and explore our audience measurement solutions designed to support box office forecasting and cinema audience insights, click here.

• Don't forget to also explore the broader suite from The Marketing Cloud to unlock AI-driven marketing solutions that help teams across market research, comms, creative, and media.