Practical Magic 2: Susanne Bier in talks to helm sequel starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock

Last Updated on January 30, 2025

Deadline reports that Susanne Bier is in talks to direct Practical Magic 2 for Warner Bros. The original film starred Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as two witch sisters who are raised by their eccentric aunts in a small town where they are faced with closed-minded prejudice and a curse that threatens to prevent them from ever finding lasting love.

Kidman and Bullock will be reprising their roles of Gillian and Sally Owens, respectively. Both actresses have already worked with Bier. She directed Bullock on Netflix’s Bird Box and worked with Kidman on HBO’s The Undoing and Netflix’s The Perfect Couple.

Producer Denise Di Novi has previously teased that the sequel will honour the original movie and not try to reinvent the wheel. “I think the big mistake people make with sequels is when they kind of want to reinvent the wheel and be totally original and surprise people that it’s different or whatever. (We get) how important the first movie is to so many people, women in particular, and we want to honor that for sure,” Di Novi said. “There’s a joyousness to that movie, and there’s such beautiful themes of sisterhood and family and acceptance, tolerance, love. Just the title that Alice Hoffman, the amazing author, thought of that’s now become part of the vernacular of Practical Magic is that there’s magic in daily life, in love, in family, in sisterhood. It’s magical, and we all have our gifts, and women have very particular and specific gifts. We really want to honor all of that.“

Akiva Goldsman, who co-wrote the original script based on Alice Hoffman’s 1995 novel of the same name, is returning to write the screenplay for the sequel.

The original movie wasn’t actually a success upon release. It grossed just $68.3 million worldwide against a $75 million budget and received largely negative reviews. However, the film has developed a cult following over the years who have embraced its themes of family and sisterhood. That said, I do still wonder how successful a sequel will be all these years later, but with Kidman and Bullock involved, I’m not about to bet against them.