(L to R) Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
‘Practical Magic’ adapts Alice Hoffman’s 1995 novel. The movie follows two sisters, Sally (Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Kidman), who come from a long line of witches.
Orphaned at a young age, they are raised by their eccentric aunts, who embrace their magical heritage. However, the Owens family is cursed: any man who falls in love with an Owens woman is doomed to an untimely death.
Subsequently, Sally and Gillian struggle with their powers and the consequences of the family curse. Sally attempts to lead a normal life, distancing herself from magic, but tragedy strikes when her husband dies.
Gillian, on the other hand, lives a wild life, embracing her magical abilities. The sisters are reunited when Gillian finds herself in a dangerous relationship with Jimmy Angelov (Goran Visnjic), a violent man. In an effort to protect Gillian, the sisters accidentally kill Jimmy, leading to a series of supernatural events as they attempt to hide his death and ultimately break the family curse.
What will be the story for ‘Practical Magic 2’?
(L to R) Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
While there are zero official details are available for the new movie’s storyline, King’s casting does open up a narrative alley we figured they’d take.
She’ll play one of Bullock’s daughters, the one who discovers the dark family secrets and her own dark powers, plunging the family into a crisis.
As for the newcomers (beyond King), we don’t yet know their roles.
But Wiest and Channing, of course, will be Aunt Jet and Aunt Frances respectively, who always have wise words for their nieces (and now, grand-nieces).
Akiva Goldsman, who worked on the script for the original, is back, with Georgia Pritchett, a veteran of ‘Veep’ and ‘Succession,’ also credited.
Bier is a hugely respected Danish filmmaker who is more normally found in the indie sphere, though has been diversifying into premium TV in recent years.
Her work has scored many other accolades and trophies, and she’s also been behind projects such as John le Carré adaptation ‘The Night Manager’ and White House drama ‘The First Lady.’ She is the first female director to win a Golden Globe, Emmy and European Film Award, collectively.
Perhaps most pertinent to ‘Practical Magic’ and its stars is her previous collaborations with both Bullock and Kidman.
Bullock starred in Bier’s Netflix thriller ‘Bird Box,’ the story of a world plunged into chaos when aliens arrive who send anyone who glimpses them mad.
As for Kidman, Bier handled HBO drama ‘The Undoing,’ which saw the actor starring alongside Hugh Grant in a murder mystery. And more recently, Bier tackled all the episodes of Netflix drama ‘The Perfect Couple,’ with Kidman playing the icy matriarch of a wealthy, dysfunctional family.
Here’s the statement from the filmmaking team on the new casting choices:
“Twenty-five years ago, Sally, Gillian, Aunt Jet and Aunt Franny flew off the pages of Alice Hoffman’s beloved novel and into theaters around the world, and we are thrilled to bring the Owens family back to the big screen with Joey, Lee, Maisie, Solly and Xolo joining the next chapter in our story. The enduring affection for these characters has been our inspiration to deliver the next installment in the Owens’ story to new fans, and those who’ve been with us since the beginning.”
When will ‘Practical Magic 2’ be in theaters?
We do now know when Warners is looking to release the sequel –– and in theaters, rather than sending it direct to streaming service HBO Max –– September 18th, 2026.
Production is currently underway in England, so all looks good for the sequel to hit that date.
Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Joey King attends the world premiere of Netflix’s ‘A Family Affair’ at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on June 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Preview:
Joey King is in talks for ‘Practical Magic 2.’
Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock are back to star.
With a shoot now planned for late summer in the UK (a common spot for Warner Bros. to produce its movies these days), The Hollywood Reporter brings the latest news: Joey King is now in talks to land a role in the sequel.
(L to R) Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
‘Practical Magic’ adapts Alice Hoffman’s 1995 novel. The movie follows two sisters, Sally (Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Kidman), who come from a long line of witches.
Orphaned at a young age, they are raised by their eccentric aunts, who embrace their magical heritage. However, the Owens family is cursed: any man who falls in love with an Owens woman is doomed to an untimely death.
Subsequently, Sally and Gillian struggle with their powers and the consequences of the family curse. Sally attempts to lead a normal life, distancing herself from magic, but tragedy strikes when her husband dies.
Gillian, on the other hand, lives a wild life, embracing her magical abilities. The sisters are reunited when Gillian finds herself in a dangerous relationship with Jimmy Angelov (Goran Visnjic), a violent man. In an effort to protect Gillian, the sisters accidentally kill Jimmy, leading to a series of supernatural events as they attempt to hide his death and ultimately break the family curse.
What will be the story for ‘Practical Magic 2’?
(L to R) Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
While there are zero official details are available for the new movie’s storyline, King’s casting does open up a narrative alley we figured they’d take.
She’ll play one of Bullock’s daughters, the one who discovers the dark family secrets and her own dark powers, plunging the family into a crisis.
Akiva Goldsman, who worked on the script for the original, is back, with Georgia Pritchett, a veteran of ‘Veep’ and ‘Succession,’ also credited.
Who else is making the ‘Practical Magic’ sequel?
Griffin Dunne in Greenwich Entertainment’s ‘Ex-Husbands’. Credit: Wyatt Angelo, Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.
“I think we should see what a woman would bring to that magic. I think that there’s no such thing as a man being a woman’s director anymore, there’s a woman director. I’m included as executive producer, but not involved in a day-to-day or any of that.”
As mentioned, Goldsman is the only one of the first movie’s writers (which also included Robin Swicord and Adam Brooks) to come back.
Bullock and Kidman will produce the movie alongside the original’s Denise Di Novi.
Bier is a hugely respected Danish filmmaker who is more normally found in the indie sphere, though has been diversifying into premium TV in recent years.
Her work has scored many other accolades and trophies, and she’s also been behind projects such as John le Carré adaptation ‘The Night Manager’ and White House drama ‘The First Lady.’ She is the first female director to win a Golden Globe, Emmy and European Film Award, collectively.
Perhaps most pertinent to ‘Practical Magic’ and its stars is her previous collaborations with both Bullock and Kidman.
Bullock starred in Bier’s Netflix thriller ‘Bird Box,’ the story of a world plunged into chaos when aliens arrive who send anyone who glimpses them mad.
As for Kidman, Bier handled HBO drama ‘The Undoing,’ which saw the actor starring alongside Hugh Grant in a murder mystery. And more recently, Bier tackled all the episodes of Netflix drama ‘The Perfect Couple,’ with Kidman playing the icy matriarch of a wealthy, dysfunctional family.
When will ‘Practical Magic 2’ be in theaters?
We do now know when Warners is looking to release the sequel –– and in theaters, rather than sending it direct to streaming service Max (sorry, HBO Max, or whatever it’s called by the time the movie arrives) –– September 18th, 2026.
So if you need more witchy magic in your life, you’re going to have to be patient for a little over a year. But what’s that compared to the 28-year-long wait already?
Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Opening in New York theaters on February 20th before expanding to additional markets is the new dramatic comedy ‘Ex-Husbands’, which was written and directed by Noah Pritzker.
Griffin Dunne in Greenwich Entertainment’s ‘Ex-Husbands’. Credit: Wyatt Angelo, Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with actor and director Griffin Dunne about his work on ‘Ex-Husbands’, his first reaction to the screenplay, why his character crashes his son’s bachelor party, working with legendary actor and director Richard Benjamin, how Benjamin almost cast him in ‘My Favorite Year’, reuniting on screen with his friend Rosanna Arquette, the legacy of their classic movie ‘After Hours’, hosting ‘Saturday Night Live‘ in the 80s, and the status of ‘Practical Magic 2’ and why he’s not returning to direct the sequel.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
Griffin Dunne in Greenwich Entertainment’s ‘Ex-Husbands’. Credit: Wyatt Angelo, Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to Noah Pritzker’s screenplay and your initial approach to playing this character?
Griffin Dunne: Well, my first reaction was, “I can’t believe there’s a script out there for a guy my age to carry a whole movie.” That it speaks to the things I like doing, my talents of being funny, sad, tragic, and comic. The circumstance was funny, but also, it’s got a kind of great setup of a divorced father who crashes his son’s bachelor party, but then it becomes so much more complex and touching. I thought, “Well, this is really rare for a movie being made about this circumstance and how fortunate to get a part like this.”
Griffin Dunne in Greenwich Entertainment’s ‘Ex-Husbands’. Credit: Wyatt Angelo, Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.
MF: As a director yourself, what are you looking for from another director when you are acting on set and what was it like collaborating with Noah on this film?
GD: I guess just support, someone who’s secure in what they’re doing and not insecure. The first sign of that is a director who’s telling you what to do or what they think before you even started working on the set and that gets in your head. But just (someone who) lets you kind of play and believes in you and doesn’t have buyer’s remorse when you’re showing up to work. They just want to see what you’re going to do and hopefully like it and add to it and make it better and just have an open dialogue. But mainly I just like a director who is secure and wants to be where they are and feels good about the choices they’ve made, always, from day one. We knew each other. Noah came to me with this script at least a year or so before we went because we were going to go ahead and then COVID put us back. During all that time, we really got to know each other during all that downtime. So, there were no sort of surprises, and I didn’t find out that he had a vicious, awful temper that I never knew. I knew him, he was funny, and he remains a great friend of mine.
James Norton in Greenwich Entertainment’s ‘Ex-Husbands’. Credit: Wyatt Angelo, Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.
MF: Can you talk about Peter’s relationship with his sons and why he decides to crash their bachelor party?
GD: Yeah, that was the endless question that we talked about on set all the time. I think he does know (that he was not invited), and he was told, but he’s at an age, and I remember I had seen it in my own father, where you convince yourself, you didn’t know. You hear what you want to hear. I have a daughter who’s an adult, and we’ll argue about something, and she will say, “What? I told you this. I mean, how can you not remember this? I told you.” I’ll say, “No, I don’t think you did. I’m telling you, you didn’t.” Then about two weeks later, I’ll remember we were in a restaurant, and we had an entire discussion about it, whatever the thing was, it was important to me, and I just blocked it. We’re messed up, complex people.
(L to R) Griffin Dunne, James Norton and Miles Heizer in Greenwich Entertainment’s ‘Ex-Husbands’. Credit: Wyatt Angelo, Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.
MF: What was it like working with Miles Heizer and James Norton to create those father and son relationships?
GD: It was so easy. We just sort of fell into it. I was not aware of Miles’s work. I knew he was in the Netflix series (’13 Reasons Why’). I knew he was a big deal because we’d be in Mexico City, and girls would just squeal like I was with Justin Timberlake or something. But the one I really did know that I was a big fan of, that was James Norton, who I had never met until we worked together. But his work had blown me away in so many things, in English series and movies. He has a huge breadth of work. Of course, no one knew who James, or I were in Mexico City. I go, “Wait, yes. Miles is great, but do you know who this guy is?” They had no idea. Anyway, we had an easy chemistry on camera and hung out a lot off camera. We even vacationed when we had a break from shooting, so we could move locations in Mexico. We all took a trip and went to an island off somewhere in the Pacific and vacationed together. It was like family. We each gave each other COVID too which really brings people together. Now we’re really family.
(L to R) Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Richard Benjamin and Marcia Jean Kurtz in Greenwich Entertainment’s ‘Ex-Husbands’. Credit: Wyatt Angelo, Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.
MF: Can you talk about Peter’s relationship with his own father and your experience working with legendary actor and director Richard Benjamin on that dynamic? Did your own life experience with your father help inform those scenes for you?
GD: Well, first there were so many parallels to my life and who I played having lost my father and mother, who I was very close with, and having been married and divorced and a father of an adult child, so I had a lot of personal things to draw from. I also have been a lover of movies from the earliest of age and grew up on Richard Benjamin. He was one of those actors, he and Dustin Hoffman, when I saw as a kid, were I go, “Hey, they’re kind of weird looking, and they’re really funny. I think I can do that. I think I can be one of those guys.” It was one of my earliest, “I want to be an actor feeling” was seeing Richard Benjamin. I think he was in ‘Goodbye, Columbus’ and both movies, ‘The Graduate’ and ‘Goodbye, Columbus’, I was too young to even be allowed in the theater but got in anyway. So, working with Richard was really like an honor. He was so patient with me because I just had so many things to talk to him about, so many questions and wanting to go over different things from his different movies, not only as an actor but as a director as well. I reminded him of maybe a delusion I’ve had for many years that it came down to me and Mark Linn-Baker to be the kid in ‘My Favorite Year’. I don’t know where I got that idea. I did audition for Richard, and I wanted that part so badly. I think every actor remembers the one they didn’t get. This is the one that’s haunted me for decades. So, when I meet Richard, one of the earliest things I said was, “You almost cast me in ‘My Favorite Year’.” He had absolutely no recollection of me. But it just shows you the things that we carry around that we believe at the time are part of my DNA. I know Mark was lovely but you always remember the one that got away.
(L to R) Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette and Adam Heller in Greenwich Entertainment’s ‘Ex-Husbands’. Credit: Wyatt Angelo, Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.
MF: Your ‘After Hours’ co-star Rosanna Arquette plays your ex-wife in the film. What was it like reuniting with her after all these years, and did your past experiences working together help you both slip into these characters and their relationship rather effortlessly?
GD: Yeah, it was an interesting experience in mortality and a life experience because Rosanna and I first worked together, we met in Poland in 1980, which led to me casting her, with director John Sayles, in ‘Baby It’s You’, which she starred in and so many things since then. So, we’ve always stayed friends, but imagine how much aging takes place from 1980 to us working together as a couple with grown children. So, it really was like we spent a lifetime together as soon as we were working. Our backstory was already written.
(L to R) Griffin Dunne and Martin Scorsese on the set of ‘After Hours’. Photo: Warner Bros.
MF: Speaking of ‘After Hours’, the film has had an incredible renaissance in recent years inspiring an album by The Weeknd and an episode of ‘Ted Lasso’. What are your memories of making that movie with Martin Scorsese and are you surprised by the legacy of the film?
GD: Yes, I guess I am. What surprises me, when it came out, I think it invented a genre of humor, which is anxiety humor. I don’t think there were movies, and people have done them since, ‘After Hours’ has become almost an adjective for a kind of genre. But at the time, in the States it was not hugely received. I remember (film critic) Pauline Kael kind of dismissed it, called me a second-rate Dudley Moore, by the way, but it was not a big box office extravaganza. It was also very much outside of the box of what people expected a Martin Scorsese film to do. So, there was a cultural adjustment and you had to let things settle. I didn’t know at what point it happened, but it was after VHSs and once HBO was pretty much well established, it started to really pick up steam. By the time it really did, the film was filled with anachronisms like there are no cell phones, and its subway fares, and Soho being a wasteland of an empty neighborhood, which by the time the popularity picked up, it was basically a mall shopping district. So, the world had changed so much, but the kind of sensibility of life going sideways, that sort of (Franz) Kafka meets ‘Alice in Wonderland’ sensibility never changed. I think people really embraced it and saw how exciting and how unique it was that Scorsese made a movie at this point about that, and that he was funny. Who thought he was funny? He made a movie called ‘The King of Comedy’, which didn’t do very well, which now is also embraced as brilliant, as it is. So, I find that that happens quite a lot to tell you the truth. That’s why we have the Criterion Channel. They remind us how great the movie was that we didn’t quite get at the time. But look, it was right there, and it’s still here, and you can go back and look at it anytime you want.
‘Saturday Night Live’ celebrates its 50th anniversary. Photo: NBCUniversal.
MF: ‘Saturday Night Live’ recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and you hosted the show back in the 80s. What are your memories of that experience?
GD: Yeah, it was a season, the first season that Lorne (Michaels) came back after being away. I was a huge fan of the show, of course, like anyone from the very beginning, and I remember how nervous I was. I remember how terrible the dress rehearsal went, and I remember my friend, Mitch, who was with me, came to my dressing room with a look of like, “Are you really going to go out there again?” I thought, “Well, this is never going to work. I’ve never seen such a catastrophe.” Once 11:30 pm hit, and the moment I went out on stage, it just worked. Everything just flowed. Everything was where it was supposed to be. It was like a miracle, and that miracle happened every Saturday night at 11:30pm before and since. The dress rehearsal was hardly the first disastrous dress rehearsal. They were completely used to it, just the hosts weren’t. So, it was exhilarating, and it was the rushing and getting into different costumes and wigs and everything during a commercial break and being shoved back up on stage. It was a rush. The whole thing was a rush.
MF: You appeared in the infamous sketch where cast member Damon Wayans went off script and was immediately fired by Lorne Michaels. What are your memories of that?
GD: Yeah, he didn’t so much go off script, but I think it was, I was a Tony Montana kind of drug dealer, and it was an interrogation room with cops. So, he was doing a tough cop in the dress, and I think he just suddenly lisped during the show, which I don’t know where that came from, but I really didn’t, it didn’t register. I’m not on live TV going, “Well wait a minute, what’s he doing?” I’m just like, “I got my own problems.” So, I wasn’t aware of any of that, but I’ve read about it since, and apparently, he was dismissed as soon as he walked off the set, but I was the last one to know. I ended up reading about the incident years later.
(L to R) Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
GD: Well, I think rightly so. I think we should see what a woman would bring to that magic. It was an extraordinary experience to be asked to direct a movie that was so driven with female characters as a man. At the time it was something I could anchor onto much more than the magic and spell books and everything, but it was family. Having had a very formidable grandmother and a mother and then sister, I grew up around strong, interesting women, and I understood the generational, but I think so much has happened in the world. It’s funny, I had a reputation at that time of being a woman’s director, like George Cukor or something. I think that there’s no such thing as a man being a woman’s director anymore, there’s a woman director. So anyway, there’s no director hired or anything yet, but I’m sure that they’re mainly focused on hiring a woman. I’m included as executive producer, but not involved in a day-to-day or any of that.
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What is the plot of ‘Ex’Husbands’?
Manhattan dentist Peter Pearce (Griffin Dunne) is facing a midlife crisis after his wife (Rosanna Arquette) of 35 years leaves him. On the spur of the moment, he books a trip to Tulum, Mexico, only to crash his son’s (James Norton) bachelor party.
(L to R) Griffin Dunne, James Norton and Miles Heizer in Greenwich Entertainment’s ‘Ex-Husbands’. Credit: Wyatt Angelo, Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.
Susanne Bier is in talks to direct the developing ‘Practical Magic’ sequel.
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman will return to star.
Akiva Goldsman is also returning to write the new movie.
The mystical energy is clearly flowing for the ‘Practical Magic’ sequel, the follow up to the 1998 movie which saw Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as sisters growing up in a witchy family.
With both stars confirmed as returning, and a script from original co-writer Akiva Goldsman falling into place, it also now has a director, as ‘In a Better World’ Oscar winner Susanne Bier is now in negotiations to handle the movie.
According to Deadline, which broke news of the new development, a deal isn’t signed and sealed yet, but Bier certainly feels like a good fit for the story.
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And it’s certainly a positive step forward for a sequel, and also represents a reunion for the director and both lead actors (more on that below).
This is what Kidman said last year to People about her return alongside Bullock:
“Yes I will be in it. And Sandy will be in it. And that’s that. There’s a lot more to tell which is why we go, ‘OK, this is kind of interesting now to be able to do this.’ We found a way in.”
(L to R) Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
‘Practical Magic’ adapts Alice Hoffman’s 1995 novel. The movie follows two sisters, Sally (Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Kidman), who come from a long line of witches.
Orphaned at a young age, they are raised by their eccentric aunts, who embrace their magical heritage. However, the Owens family is cursed: any man who falls in love with an Owens woman is doomed to an untimely death.
Subsequently, Sally and Gillian struggle with their powers and the consequences of the family curse. Sally attempts to lead a normal life, distancing herself from magic, but tragedy strikes when her husband dies.
Gillian, on the other hand, lives a wild life, embracing her magical abilities. The sisters are reunited when Gillian finds herself in a dangerous relationship with Jimmy Angelov (Goran Visnjic), a violent man. In an effort to protect Gillian, the sisters accidentally kill Jimmy, leading to a series of supernatural events as they attempt to hide his death and ultimately break the family curse.
What will be the story for ‘Practical Magic 2’?
(L to R) Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Zero official details are available for whatever storyline Goldsman is cooking up in his cauldron, but we could conceivably see the sisters confronting issues with Kidman’s character’s daughters, themselves dealing with the family legacy.
Who is making the ‘Practical Magic’ sequel?
Griffin Dunne in ‘After Hours’. Photo: Warner Bros.
That first movie was written by Robin Swicord, Goldsman and Adam Brooks, but at this point, it seems only Goldsman is returning to craft the sequel.
Griffin Dunne was in the director’s chair for the original, but clearly has either opted not to return –– or not asked.
Bullock and Kidman will also produce the movie alongside the original’s Denise Di Novi.
Bier is a hugely respected Danish filmmaker who is more normally found in the indie sphere, though has been diversifying into premium TV in recent years.
Her work has scored many other accolades and trophies, and she’s also been behind projects such as John le Carré adaptation ‘The Night Manager’ and White House drama ‘The First Lady.’ She is the first female director to win a Golden Globe, Emmy and European Film Award, collectively.
Perhaps most pertinent to ‘Practical Magic’ and its stars is her previous collaborations with both Bullock and Kidman.
Bullock starred in Bier’s Netflix thriller ‘Bird Box,’ the story of a world plunged into chaos when aliens arrive who send anyone who glimpses them mad.
As for Kidman, Bier handled HBO drama ‘The Undoing,’ which saw the actor starring alongside Hugh Grant in a murder mystery. And more recently, Bier tackled all the episodes of Netflix drama ‘The Perfect Couple,’ with Kidman playing the icy matriarch of a wealthy, dysfunctional family.
When will ‘Practical Magic 2’ be in theaters?
With the movie still in its relatively early stages, there are no release details –– we don’t for example, know whether it’ll be in theaters or go straight to streaming service Max (where the original has now landed), but given the potential star power, we don’t imagine Warners will want to shove it straight to streaming.
Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
(L to R) Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Preview:
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are in talks for a ‘Practical Magic’ sequel.
Akiva Goldsman is returning to write the new movie.
No director is attached yet.
Are Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman ready to be magical again? It would appear that way, as Warner Bros. has announced a sequel to 1998 witch-powered romantic fantasy comedy drama ‘Practical Magic’.
While most of the details are a mystery for now, we’ll likely see the return of the Owens sisters, this time confronting a different story of witchcraft and family.
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What’s the story of ‘Practical Magic’?
(L to R) Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
‘Practical Magic’ adapts Alice Hoffman’s 1995 novel from Alice Hoffman. The movie follows two sisters, Sally (Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Kidman), who come from a long line of witches.
Orphaned at a young age, they are raised by their eccentric aunts, who embrace their magical heritage. However, the Owens family is cursed: any man who falls in love with an Owens woman is doomed to an untimely death.
Subsequently, Sally and Gillian struggle with their powers and the consequences of the family curse. Sally attempts to lead a normal life, distancing herself from magic, but tragedy strikes when her husband dies.
Gillian, on the other hand, lives a wild life, embracing her magical abilities. The sisters are reunited when Gillian finds herself in a dangerous relationship with Jimmy Angelov (Goran Visnjic), a violent man. In an effort to protect Gillian, the sisters accidentally kill Jimmy, leading to a series of supernatural events as they attempt to hide his death and ultimately break the family curse.
What will be the story for ‘Practical Magic 2’?
(L to R) Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Zero official details are available for whatever storyline Akiva Goldsman is cooking up in his cauldron, but we could conceivably see the sisters confronting issues with Kidman’s character’s daughters, themselves dealing with the family legacy.
Griffin Dunne in ‘After Hours’. Photo: Warner Bros.
That first movie was written by Robin Swicord, Akiva Goldsman and Adam Brooks, but at this point, it seems only Goldsman is returning to craft the sequel.
Griffin Dunne was in the director’s chair for the original, but Warner Bros. has yet to confirm a filmmaker for the new movie.
Bullock and Kidman –– assuming they lock down their deals –– would also produce the movie alongside the original’s Denise Di Novi.
When will ‘Practical Magic 2’ be in theaters?
With the movie at such an early stage, there are no release details –– we don’t for example, know whether it’ll be in theaters or go straight to streaming service Max (where the original has now landed), but given the potential star power, we don’t imagine Warners will want to shove it straight to streaming.
New streaming service HBO Max is wasting no time in shoring up its offerings of original content, ordering three new pilots for an eclectic slate of projects.
The buzziest among them is “The Rules of Magic,” a prequel to the 1998 film “Practical Magic,” which starred Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as sisters who embrace their family’s knack for witchcraft, with the guidance of their aunts (played by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest). The series will be based on author Alice Hoffman’s novels “Rules of Magic” and “Practical Magic,” and be shepherded by Melissa Rosenberg (Netflix’s “Jessica Jones”) and Dana Baratta.
In this epic, generational family drama set in 1960s New York City, three troubled siblings — Franny, Jet and Vincent Owens — wrestle with “abnormalities” that have kept them isolated. But the tumultuous times unearth the extraordinary discovery that they are, in fact, descendants of a bloodline of witches. In their aspirational journey towards self-discovery and self-acceptance, they’ll contend with grief, war, bigotry and dark magic, not to mention a centuries-old curse designed to keep them away from love. The two sisters, Franny and Jet, will become the revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in ‘Practical Magic,’ while their beloved brother, Vincent, will leave an unexpected legacy.
The next series, “Generation,” is a half-hour dramedy created by Zelda Barnz, the 17-year-old daughter of writer-director Daniel Barnz (“Beastly,” “Cake“) and producer Ben Barnz (“Cake”). Lena Dunham will co-produce along with Zelda, Daniel, and Ben.
Deadline reports that the idea for the series “reportedly grew out of Zelda’s desire to see herself honestly (not sensationally) represented and to give herself and her peers an authentic voice.”
The show’s logline states:
A dark yet playful half-hour, GENERATION follows a group of high school students whose exploration of modern sexuality (devices and all) tests deeply entrenched beliefs about life, love and the nature of family in their conservative community.
And finally, the one-hour YA drama “Red Bird Lane” will also get a pilot. The show is described as a “Morality and psychological horror series about eight strangers who arrive at an isolated house—all for different reasons—and quickly realize that something sinister and terrifying awaits them.”
Sara Gran (“Southland”) will serve as writer and showrunner. John Wells (“ER,” “The West Wing,” “Southland”) will also co-executive produce.
“Practical Magic” — starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as the wonderfully witchy Owens sisters — just celebrated its 20th anniversary on October 16.
Evan Rachel Wood was only about 11-years-old when she played Sally’s (Bullock) daughter Kylie Owens, who looked and acted a lot more like her Aunt Gillian (Kidman).
“Westworld” star Evan, now 31, retweeted an anniversary post…
No doubt. The fan who suggested the idea is actually Netflix’s social media manager, so if Netflix gets behind this, we could at least potentially add it to their list of 10 gazillion titles. Or maybe it could still get a wide theatrical release.
All of this is theoretical rather than practical magic, of course, since there is no sequel plan to speak of. Not yet.
But come on. If Evan Rachel Wood is down for it, and fans are into the idea, why not? It’s not a reboot. It’s not even one of those “continuations” set in the same universe. It’s a straight-up sequel picking up the story 20 years later. Please?
