Chances are you’ve seen a “Practical Magic 2” graphic and description making the rounds. And while it may be just be an unsourced rumor, it could also be…true? Maybe the ‘news’ is a ploy to gauge interest, or just a grab at shares on a particular Facebook page, since the initial post appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race Family, which is a fan-run Facebook page known to share this kind of content.
But let’s be optimistic for a minute. How would a “Practical Magic” sequel happen? What would we want? And what do we know?
The Rumored Version
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are supposedly on board. Evan Rachel Wood, Karen Gillan, Stockard Channing, and Dianne Wiest are also rumored to be involved with the sequel.
The setting is 25 years after Griffin Dunne‘s original 1998 film. When Sally’s granddaughter turns 16, all hell breaks loose when an ancient family curse descends. Bullock and Gillian now have to deal with the forgotten curse comes to haunt them. Tracking down the source to a long forgotten Owens family coven, the six Owen women must travel across the country if they have any hope of saving the future and their family.
Is it true?
At this point, probably not. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be. The way things get shopped around after people rally for it puts this at having a very good chance of happening. The rumored cast returning as well as new additions could be swapped out with others. A 2025 release date wouldn’t be ideal because it would set the film 28 years exactly from the originals premiere date.
Our Best Guess
If “Practical Magic 2″ DOES happen, it would likely be a 30 year time gap setting the release date from 1998 to 2028. The plot would likely take it’s cues from Alice Hoffman‘s “The Book of Magic,” which the original film is based on. The synopsis is pretty similar to the rumored description making the rounds.
The Owens family has been cursed in matters of love for over three-hundred years but all of that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place for a story to be conjured, when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. Jet is not the only one in danger—the curse is already at work.
A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside where their ancestor Maria Owens first practiced the Unnamed Art. The younger generation discovers secrets that have been hidden from them in matters of both magic and love by Sally, their fiercely protective mother. As Kylie Owens uncovers the truth about who she is and what her own dark powers are, her aunt Franny comes to understand that she is ready to sacrifice everything for her family, and Sally Owens realizes that she is willing to give up everything for love.
“Practical Magic” Prequel WAS in the Works
In 2019, a “Practical Magic“ prequel series was announced for HBO Max. An adaptation of Hoffman’s novel “The Rules of Magic,” it was to be set in 1960s New York and would be focused on the Owens family siblings. The pilot would be a one-hour intro of siblings Jet, Franny, and Vincent Owen who had been kept isolated because of their abnormalities. They learn that they descend from a family of witches.
Of course, this announcement was right before the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the tv and film industry. Not to mention the woes of HBO Max at the hands of David Zaslav. BUT, considering we’re getting new “The Lord of the Rings” films, a revisit of a popular and enduring title isn’t completely outside the realm of possibility.
Maybe if we manifest it, it’ll happen. After all, intention is everything in magic.
