Getty ImagesMix together a beloved film simmering for decades, a sprinkling of social media hype and a generous glug of star power and you just might conjure up the long-awaited sequel to Practical Magic.
The 1998 fantasy romcom, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witchy sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, received mixed reviews from critics when it was first released.
But it’s put a spell on a new generation discovering it online, with some now regarding the film as a cult classic and autumn staple.
The demand for a follow-up by this new wave of fans helped convince Bullock and Kidman to reprise their roles nearly 30 years on, they say.
Actresses Joey King and Maisie Williams are joining the cast this time round to play Sally’s daughters, Kylie and Antonia.
Kissing Booth star King tells BBC Newsbeat she feels this desire for nostalgic content, which has become one of the defining forces within entertainment in recent years, has been influenced by “the world moving so fast”.
Getty Images“I think with technology moving at the speed that it is, we’re really missing the times when we were less reachable,” she says.
“If we couldn’t figure out something, we’d stare out the window until it came to us, and I think we’re nostalgic for a time like that.”
She feels this can also be a strength of cinema as it can help “make memories” and “feelings” for people that they can revisit by rewatching.
The upcoming release comes at a time when reboots, reunions and remakes are dominating film and TV lists.
Game of Thrones star Williams agrees the drive for nostalgic content feels like a “symptom of people longing for simpler times”, but says she is “very grateful” that they have made a sequel and not a remake.
“I do believe in pushing the story forwards and I do believe in telling new stories,” she says.
“And I do believe stories can come back around and they can still be meaningful.
“But I am not the biggest fan of the remake because I think it’s a shame to withhold ourselves from telling a new story.”
Warner Bros. PicturesPractical Magic 2 sees the cast return to a world which is steeped in powerful ancestral magic with the characters once again confronting a family curse which condemns anyone who loves and is loved by an Owens woman to death.
There are also nods to the original throughout, with bubbling family tension, dark romantic “witchcore” fashion and the iconic midnight margaritas.
US acting stalwarts Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing return to their roles for the follow-up, while Guardians of the Galaxy actor Lee Pace, Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña and House of the Dragon’s Solly McLeod are new additions.
Reviews so far have been mixed, with the Guardian describing it as a “nostalgia-bait return” which is as “strange and messy as the first” but with “warm seasonal pleasures to be had”.
Meanwhile The Hollywood Reporter says the “slapdash” sequel “works better the less you look for any sense of logic, and the more you just lean into the transient joys of watching these actresses bounce off each other”.
Warner Bros. PicturesAmid the scrutiny around the film, Williams admits joining the Practical Magic world was “a little bit overwhelming”, but says the cast were “so supportive the whole time” and “welcomed us into the sisterhood”.
The bond of sisterhood is at the heart of the first film and continues in the sequel, but Bullock has recalled this was initially one of the criticisms of the original, with some branding it as “too witchy” with “too many women”.
With women’s rights under pressure in some countries, Williams says it is a “challenging time” and she feels it’s “so important in a time like this for women to be supporting one another”.
“We are in a time when young women are staying in education longer and women, before having children, are sometimes being paid more than their male counterparts, which I do find to be really exciting,” she adds.
“But there’s a lot of work to do.
“And this feeling of witches, symbiosis and power – I feel like there’s something in that which can just push us forwards.”
