The latest weekend box office saw a tight race for the top spot, with the "Now You See Me" franchise's third installment, titled "Now You See Me: Now You Don't," emerging as the leader. Debuting ahead of other new releases like "The Running Man" and the indie horror "Keeper," the Lionsgate production showcased the enduring appeal of its illusionist-led narrative.

"Now You See Me: Now You Don't," a soft-reboot for the franchise, secured $8.4 million across Friday and preview screenings from 3,403 locations. This performance positions the PG-13-rated threequel for a three-day opening between $21 million and $24 million, aligning with pre-weekend projections and similar to the 2016 sequel's $22 million debut. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, who has established himself as a journeyman filmmaker, the movie features a returning ensemble cast including Jesse Eisenberg as J. Daniel Atlas, Woody Harrelson as Merritt McKinney, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan, and Morgan Freeman. New additions to the cast include Dominic Sessa, Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, and Rosamund Pike, who takes on the role of the new antagonist. With a hefty $90 million budget, the film will need strong international market performance, especially considering the declining receptiveness of regions like China to Hollywood films, a shift since the second installment grossed nearly $100 million there. Critically, the movie earned mixed reviews, holding a 58% score on Rotten Tomatoes, though notably, it is the best-reviewed entry of the trilogy. Audiences, however, lean more positive, awarding it a 'B+' grade on CinemaScore, though this is lower than the 'A-' grades received by both prior entries.

Meanwhile, Paramount's "The Running Man," starring Glen Powell, found itself vying for second place against the sophomore weekend of "Predator: Badlands." This second big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's 1982 dystopian novel, written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, is directed by Edgar Wright and features a plot where contestants are hunted in a deadly game show. The R-rated film accumulated $6.4 million across Friday and preview screenings from 3,534 locations. This puts its projected debut in the $17 million to $19 million range, falling slightly behind initial forecasts that aimed for north of $20 million. Produced on a reported budget of $110 million, co-financed by Domain Entertainment, the movie's cast includes Glen Powell as Ben Richards, Josh Brolin as Dan Killian, William H. Macy, Colman Domingo, Lee Pace, Jayme Lawson, and Katy O'Brian. Critical reception has been lukewarm, with a 65% score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus suggests it maintains a "slick stride" but doesn't quite meet Wright's usual "high bar for inventive action extravaganzas." Collider's Aidan Kelley described it as one of Wright's most "politically charged and challenging movie yet." Audiences, similar to "Now You See Me: Now You Don't," were kinder, giving it a 'B+' grade on CinemaScore, a score on par with recent hits like "The Beekeeper." Historically, the 1987 adaptation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was an underperformer, grossing less than $40 million globally. The film's opening stands as one of the biggest for a King adaptation, trailing only "It" and "It: Chapter Two," and surpassing "The Green Mile" (which opened to $18 million in 1999) and "1408" ($20 million nearly a decade ago).

In other box office news, Neon's indie horror "Keeper," written and directed by Osgood Perkins, garnered approximately $1 million from 1,950 locations across Friday and previews, positioning it for a fifth-place debut. This opening trails significantly behind Perkins' more successful recent efforts, "Longlegs" ($22 million) and "The Monkey" ($14 million). Reviews for "Keeper" were less favorable than his previous works, and it received a dismal 'D+' grade from CinemaScore. Meanwhile, Disney's "Predator: Badlands" earned $3.5 million on its second Friday, a 68% drop from its opening day. Its domestic gross has reached $56 million and is projected to exceed $66 million through Sunday, aiming to surpass "Alien vs. Predator" ($80.2 million) as the franchise's biggest domestic hit. Rounding out the top five, Paramount's Colleen Hoover adaptation, "Regretting You," took in $1.2 million on Friday, expecting a $4 million fourth weekend for a domestic total of $45 million through Sunday.