Czech box office Nov. 13-16: ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ pulls a fast one on holiday weekend

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, the belated third film in the Now You See Me series, landed in first at the Czech box office over the weekend leading into Monday’s Nov. 17 national holiday. The magic-themed heist film starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and Isla Fisher earned an impressive CZK 6.1 million to come in first on a competitive weekend.

Debuting in a disappointing sixth was The Running Man, Edgar Wright’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel that was previously turned into a 1987 movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The action film came in second at the U.S. box office but only sixth in Czech with a CZK 1.25 million tally representing just a small fraction of the Now You See Me sequel’s earnings.

Still, that was a better performance than The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne Johnson as 1990s MMA star Mark Kerr, which failed to even crack the top 20 in Czechia in its opening weekend. Director Benny Safdie‘s film also disappointed at the U.S. box office during its October release.

Among other new releases, the Norwegian animated film North, based on the same Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale (The Snow Queen) that also inspired Frozen, earned CZK 1.29 million to come in fourth. The film is screening locally in a Czech-dubbed version.

The Bugaboo (Bubák), a Czech family film with supernatural elements, earned just under CZK 1 million to come in eighth. The film, from directors Tomáš Pavlíček and Kateřina Karhánková, follows a group of children who encounter a boogeyman under their beds. The American family film Sketch, screening locally only in a Czech-dubbed version, debuted in 17th with CZK 368,000.

A week ahead of its official release, the Czech hockey movie Invincibles (Neporazitelní) pulled in an impressive CZK 670,000 in preview screenings to crack the top ten. Inspired by real events from the 2019 Para Hockey World Championship in Ostrava, the film stars Ivan Trojan, Hynek Čermák, and Tomáš Havlínek alongside German actor Til Schweiger as the coach of the U.S. team.

After leading the Czech box office last weekend, Predator: Badlands took in a strong CZK 3.71 million to finish second this week, bringing its two-week total to CZK 10.88 million. Box office tallies for the latest entry in the Predator series are especially impressive following 2022’s excellent Prey, which skipped a theatrical release to debut straight to streaming services (Disney+ in Czechia).

Coming in third was the Czech comedy Milion, earning a strong CZK 2.20 million. The new film from director Rudolf Merkner (2023’s How to Survive Your Love) stars veteran actor Jiří Lábus as a grandfather who announces a competition among his numerous children that will award a million euros to his next-born grandchild.

Finishing fourth was A Mouse Hunt for Christmas (Hvis ingen går i fella) with CZK 1.77 million. The Norwegian-produced family film combines elements of Home Alone and Mouse Hunt in its story of a group of mice who fight back against the humans who move into their quiet country home. Screening locally only in a Czech-dubbed version.