[Source: AP]

It’s no magic trick: The third installment in the thieving magician “Now You See Me” series beat the high-profile action pic “The Running Man” at the North American box office this weekend.

Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” pulled in $21.3 million, while Paramount’s “The Running Man” made $17 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” which cost a reported $90 million to produce, comes almost 10 years after the second film. Including ticket sales from 64 international territories, its worldwide opening is estimated to be around $75.5 million. Going into the weekend, it was expected to be a closer race between the two newcomers.

“Honestly, I didn’t see us being number one for the weekend about 10 days ago,” Kevin Grayson, the president of worldwide distribution for Lionsgate’s motion picture group, said Sunday. “But as we started to get closer and ticket sale numbers started to pop, we saw that there was going to be a horse race. Then we pulled away Saturday morning.”

Grayson said it’s a testament not only to the franchise but the marketing and publicity strategies which, “really helped us get into a position where we now can play all the way through the holiday corridor.”

The first two movies in the “Now You See Me” series, released in 2013 and 2016, earned over $686 million worldwide. This installment, directed by Ruben Fleischer, sees the return of the original “Four Horsemen,” Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco, and introduces three younger magicians into the mix: Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt and Justice Smith. A fourth film is already in the works.

Reviews were mixed on Rotten Tomatoes, coming in at 59%. According to PostTrak polling, audiences were a bit more positive, with 63% saying they would definitely recommend.

Audience scores were slightly less for “The Running Man,” which had a 58% “definitely recommend.” Both earned a B+ CinemaScore, but more people chose the franchise. One key difference is that women made up more of the “Now You See Me” audience (54%). They only accounted for 37% of “The Running Man” ticket buyers.

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