On September 10, Practical Magic 2 will also be in our cinemas, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, the sequel to the 1998 film, which over the years has grown into such a cult that it spawned this continuation, more than a quarter of a century later. Not exactly a given event, so much so that Bullock herself brushed off a few pebbles from her shoe, interviewed by People on the red carpet of the premiere: few believed in that film as much as those who made it, and time has been generous to the first chapter. The second installment was born almost spontaneously, when the moment arrived.
Practical Magic 2, the strange sequel to a rejected film
Produced for 75 million dollars in 1998, Practical Magic grossed a little over 94 million (Box Office Mojo as the source), turning out to be a solid flop, accompanied by a brutal critical reception, summarized by Rotten Tomatoes with a ruthless 30%. An opening that disoriented the writers and the lead actresses Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, who today recount: “We thought: it would be a fantastic film, people would love it! But then it faded, it really faded. They asked: are all these women really necessary? How many registers are there? What kind of film is this?” Over time the film, a kind of blend of romantic comedy and semi-horror fantasy, earned its own fandom, to such an extent that on the same Rotten Tomatoes there is a wide gap with the audience score, standing at 73%. Even though the sequel is directed by Susanne Bier, Bullock wanted to send a greeting to the original director (elsewhere also an actor) Griffin Dunne: “And there is one thing I will repeat until I’m sick of saying it: Griffin Dunne created this world with us, this film exists thanks to him, he never got to enjoy it when we were making it. Tonight we want to pay tribute to him.” But why a sequel to Practical Magic right now? According to Kidman, “It’s serendipity: as in life, if you try to force things, they don’t happen. You have to wait, be patient, and now it happened and that’s that: both of us have opened up to the idea.”
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