‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ Edges ‘The Running Man’ at U.K., Ireland Box Office

Lionsgate U.K.’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” narrowly claimed the No. 1 position at the U.K. and Ireland box office, opening with £2,384,018 ($3,132,924), according to Comscore.

Paramount’s “The Running Man” was a whisker behind, also launching to £2,383,269 ($3,131,904), with very little separating the two debuts in what was effectively a photo finish at the top of the chart.

Disney’s “Predator: Badlands” slid to third place but remained a solid draw, scaring up $1.2 million in its second frame for a running total of $5.6 million. New entry “Nuremberg,” from Studiocanal, arrived in fourth with $1.2 million, while Sony’s anime feature “Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution” rounded out the top five on $1.1 million, all of which counts as its cumulative gross.

Further down the chart, Sony’s“The Choral” ranked sixth, adding $800,000 in its second weekend to reach approximately $3.4 million. True Brit Entertainment’s “Christmas Karma” opened at No. 7 with $500,000. In eighth place, Paramount’s “Regretting You” collected $500,000, pushing its total to $7.8 million. Paramount’s family spin-off “A Paw Patrol Christmas” padded the No. 9 slot with $300,000 for a cumulative $700,000, while Universal’s sci-fi thriller “Bugonia” completed the top 10 with a shade under $300,000 lifting its total to $3.5 million.

A varied slate rolls out across the U.K. and Ireland this week, beginning on Tuesday with “La Traviata – OperaGlass Works 2025,” distributed by 606 Distribution. The filmed staging adds another operatic entry to the year’s growing pipeline of event-cinema titles.

On Thursday, Dreamz Entertainment unveils Telugu-language film “Premante,” expanding the week’s South Asian representation before a crowded Friday corridor led by two major national releases. Universal Pictures launches “Wicked: For Good,” Jon M. Chu’s big-screen continuation of the “Wicked” franchise, featuring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum. Positioned in more than 300 locations, it is one of the week’s widest openers.

Sony Pictures counters with “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” Jalmari Helander’s action-revenge thriller starring Jorma Tommila, Richard Brake and Stephen Lang. Also landing wide on Friday, the title rolls out in more than 300 sites.

Vue Lumière offers “The Thing With Feathers,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch, while BFI Distribution releases Lucile Hadžihalilović’s “The Ice Tower,” led by Marion Cotillard and Clara Pacini. MusicFilmNetwork presents the documentary “The Session Man – The Nicky Hopkins Story,” profiling the celebrated pianist through interviews with contributors including Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Albert Lee and Pete Townshend.

Additional releases include the war epic “120 Bahadur” from Bakrania Media; Verve Pictures’ horror “Game”; the family-facing “CBeebies Panto 2025: Cinderella”; Altitude’s horror “The Carpenter’s Son,” headlined by Nicolas Cage; Zee Studios International’s raunchy comedy “Mastiii 4”; the Netflix’s “The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo” ; Miracle/Underground/Rocliffe’s “Testimony”; and Dreamz Entertainment’s “Eko.”

The week concludes on Saturday with another operatic event-cinema title, “Arabella – Met Opera 2025,” via Trafalgar Releasing.