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.
- Susanne Bier is preparing to direct the movie.
We’ve known for a while that a sequel to 1998 witchy family curse comedy drama ‘Practical Magic’ was on the way –– stars Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock have been talking it up, and the project took a big step forward when Susanne Bier was announced as director.
A multi generational family of witches, cursed to be loveless for centuries, attempts to break the spell by confronting dark secrets and sacrificing for each other. Read the Plot
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.
Related Article: ‘Bird Box’ Director Susanne Bier to Conjure Up ‘Practical Magic’ Sequel
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. 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.
Griffin Dunne was in the director’s chair for the original, and spoke to Moviefone earlier this year about why he was not returning as director.
“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.
Where else can we see Joey King?
Joey King as Zara Ford in ‘A Family Affair’. Photo: Aaron Epstein/Netflix © 2024.
King made her debut on Disney series ‘The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,’ but has built quite the career since then.
Her other TV includes ‘Ghost Whisperer,’‘New Girl,’‘The Flash,’‘Fargo’ and perhaps biggest in terms of impact, Netflix TV movie series ‘The Kissing Booth’.
On the big screen, she’s been seen in movies such as ‘The Conjuring,’‘The Princess,’‘Bullet Train,’ and most recently, ‘A Family Affair’ (which also happens to star one Nicole Kidman) and ‘Uglies.’
What else has Susanne Bier made?
Susanne Bier, Oscar®-nominee for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, arrives for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards® at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA February 27, 2011. Credit/Provider: Ivan Vejar / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.
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.
She got her start with 1991’s ‘Freud Leaving Home’ and has since made the likes of ‘Like It Never Was Before,’ ‘Credo,’ ‘The One and Only,’ ‘Open Hearts,’ ‘After the Wedding,’ ‘Things We Lost in the Fire,’ ‘Serena’ and ‘In a Better World,’ which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year in 2011.
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.