Today in Well No, We Don’t NEED It But Let Us Have It Anyway news, Warner Brothers Pictures announced that Practical Magic 2 is officially in development, 26 years after Practical Magic introduced the witchy Owens family and midnight margaritas to the masses.
“In development” means early stages, but this is closer than the once-fabled prequel project got in the 2010s, which was then conceived as an HBO Max series. Akiva Goldsman, who wrote and directed the stupefyingly terrible yet kind of amazing Winter’s Tale and co-wrote the original film’s screenplay, will pen the sequel, and Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are in talks to star in and produce the sequel along with Denise Di Novi, who has a great track record producing women-led projects, including both cinematic adaptations of Little Women, Ramona and Beezus, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but also produced Catwoman. What I love about this early development crew is that everyone has at least one banger on their resume, but also at least one total WTF title. Chaos!
There is no information beyond this, but presumably we’ll meet Sally’s daughters, all grown up? Perhaps find out if Sally and Gillian really did break the Owens curse? Will Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest return as iconic aunties Frances and Jet? I hope yes to all of the above. There are four books in Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic series, but only one is actually a sequel. I guess Bullock and Kidman could still star in a prequel, and just play different family members in the Owens line, but that’s not the kind of thinking movie studios want when it comes to franchises. Beloved actors in beloved roles, that’s the formula, especially with Furiosa reminding everyone that prequels don’t have the same audience pull as sequels.
Also, this is a great opportunity to bring the story full circle and cast Timothy Olyphant in the sequel. He doesn’t even need to play a love interest—he was replaced by Aidan Quinn in the original—let him play a dude witch, like a long-lost Owens boy cousin. There have to be some dudes on that family tree to perpetuate the surname! Just round out Practical Magic history by casting—and not firing—Timothy Olyphant this time. After all, he did his part when Goran Visnjic appeared in Santa Clarita Diet. Keep the Practical Magic circle unbroken!
But there really is only one question for a Practical Magic sequel—will they bring back the house? You know, THE HOUSE. The movie house to end all movie houses. The Practical Magic house lives on its own crossroad of cinema and design, it’s a staple on “best movie houses” lists. It isn’t real, the set long since destroyed, but it must be rebuilt! I truly believe half the Owens’ power is just from their cool ass house. I, too, would poison a man trying to take me away from that house.