Production has commenced on the sequel to Practical Magic, starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in the lead roles. A few days ago, Kidman announced the commencement of shoot with a video featuring her and Bullock’s characters sharing an embrace. The film brings Kidman back together with director Susanne Bier after their collaboration on The Undoing and The Perfect Couple. It also reunites Bullock with Bier after Bird Box. With the film, Kidman finds herself working with yet another female filmmaker. In 2017, Kidman promised that she would work with a female filmmaker once every 18 months. At the time, Kidman found it important to take an active part in changing the disparity in opportunities for women in filmmaking. She has exceeded her original goal by working with 27 female directors in the last eight years. Earlier today, the media organisation The Female Quotient praised Kidman’s activism by sharing the clip from the Practical Magic sequel set.
Recently, Kidman won the Cannes Film Festival’s Women in Motion Award mainly for championing female filmmakers and promoting gender equality in cinema. The other directors she has collaborated with include Sofia Coppola on The Beguiled, Karyn Kusama on Destroyer, Lulu Wang on Expats, and Mimi Cave on Holland.
The Practical Magic sequel brings back Bullock and Kidman as the Owens sisters, Sally and Gillian, respectively. The film is an adaptation of Alice Hoffman's novel The Book of Magic, which serves as a second part to the original novel Practical Magic. Joey King is set to play Sally Owens’ daughter in the film. The cast additions to the franchise also include Lee Pace, Xolo Maridueña, Solly McLeo, and Maisie Williams. The makers are looking to choose a new actor for the role of Sally Owens’ elder daughter in place of the original’s star Evan Rachel Wood.
Kidman and Bullock also produce the film, alongside the original’s producer Denise Di Novi. Bier is directing it from a screenplay by Georgia Pritchett of Succession fame and Akiva Goldsman, the original’s co-writer.