Practical Magic 2 Gets the Hype, Hope Deserves It

Three new films opened in theaters this week, and r/movies filed all three under a single discussion megathread, like siblings forced to share a bedroom. A witchy sequel with two of the most famous actresses alive. A medieval uprising from the director who made shaky-cam respectable. And a two-and-a-half-hour Korean monster movie that most of America has never heard of.

Guess which one is getting the attention. Now guess which one has the best numbers.

That gap is the whole story of the week. September's quiet stretch isn't over, but it has finally coughed up something to see in a theater, and it happens to be the film with the least marketing behind it. Here's how to spend your Friday.

The biggest new titles of the week didn't open in theaters at all. The most popular new film in our database right now is Drawn Together, a Spanish romantic thriller on Prime Video. Ester Expósito plays the daughter of a wealthy businessman who comes back from a kidnapping, and her father hires a bodyguard she can't stand, which lasts about as long as you'd expect. It's pure, glossy, Bodyguard-style escapism, and it's streaming now.

On Netflix, Tyler Perry wraps up his marriage trilogy with Why Did I Get Married Again?, reuniting the couples for a destination wedding where old grudges are clearly going to be unpacked alongside the luggage. If you liked the 2007 original, you'll know exactly how you feel about this one, and it's on Netflix already.

And a small, funny footnote: last week the only wide release was a thriller called The Runner. This week there's an action movie called Runner, minus the article, starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson as a former soldier and his unlikely partner racing a cartel to deliver medicine that'll save a little girl's life. It's from Scott Waugh, who knows his way around a car chase, and it's scored an early 8.2 from preview audiences. Tiny sample, but a very good sign.

If you missed it last week, Mayday is quietly the best-reviewed big movie of the fortnight, and it's on Apple TV. Ryan Reynolds plays a Navy pilot stranded behind enemy lines during the Cold War, and his only way out is teaming up with a very eccentric ex-KGB agent played by Kenneth Branagh. It comes from the directors of Game Night, it's at a 7.9 with nearly 400 ratings, and you can stream Mayday tonight.

Speaking of Alan Ritchson: Reacher is still the most in-demand show on television, and it isn't close. Running a theatrical release the same week as the show that made you famous is a good trick.

Behind it, Lanterns keeps building. Four weeks into its run, the Green Lantern series is still one of the most-watched scripted shows on air, which is a strange thing to type about a DC property in 2026. Lioness and Ted Lasso round out the heavy rotation. And if you want something to laugh at, American Dad! just aired its 400th episode, a milestone nobody saw coming when it launched in 2005. Its producers are openly amazed it keeps going, and honestly, so am I.

Next Friday, September 18, is the one horror fans have circled. Zach Cregger follows Barbarian and Weapons with a new Resident Evil, and the pitch is small in the best way. A medical courier has one bad night that turns into a fight for survival. No franchise mythology, just one guy, 91 minutes, and whatever's in the dark. Cregger's first two films both understood that the scariest thing is not knowing what kind of movie you're in, and if you haven't seen Weapons yet, fix that before next week.

September 23 brings The Love Hypothesis to Prime Video, with Lili Reinhart as a PhD student in a fake relationship with the professor everyone fears. Two days later, September 25, gets crowded in theaters. Robert Pattinson plays Chris Hansen in Primetime, a film about the making of To Catch a Predator that I cannot stop thinking about as a concept. And Brad Pitt reunites with David Ayer in Heart of the Beast as a Special Forces officer stranded in Alaska with his combat dog after a plane crash. A correction to last week, too: that one's US release is September 25, not the 19th.

Looking a little further out: Tom Cruise and Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Digger lands October 2, and Lee Chang-dong's Possible Love starts its festival run before hitting Netflix in November.

The film side of Reddit was in a pleasantly nerdy mood this week. Cregger turned up in the news talking about the key change he made to Resident Evil after test screenings, a week before it premieres at Fantastic Fest. A new image from Kitao Sakurai's Street Fighter made the rounds, Nathan Fielder's feature You Can See Everything got an October 16 date, and one of the busiest threads simply asked "what happened to martial arts movies?" (r/movies). It's a fair question in a year with almost none in theaters. Amber Midthunder from Prey has an AMA coming up Monday, and Jay Baruchel is doing one on Saturday. There was also sad news for anime fans: Mike McFarland, the English voice of Master Roshi in Dragon Ball, died at 56.

On r/television, the most interesting thread wasn't about a show at all. New data suggests Netflix's habit of making fans wait more than 18 months between seasons is bleeding viewership, which anyone who has forgotten an entire plot between seasons already knew. Greg Daniels also poured cold water on an Office revival, arguing that people liked the ending and reopening it would only risk that. Hard to argue. And the Avatar: Seven Havens trailer dropped ahead of its October 9 Paramount+ premiere.

If you see one thing in a theater this week, make it Hope. It's the best-rated theatrical release of the week, it's from one of the best genre directors working, and it won't stick around. Take the Practical Magic 2 trip for nostalgia and company, not for magic. Staying home? Stream Mayday and put on Reacher. Then clear next Friday for Zach Cregger.