Practical Magic 2 just got announced on TikTok, for some reason

On Sunday afternoon, Warner Bros. Pictures teased a niche group of fans with the vague promise, “Something magical is brewing…”. With all indicators pointing to a Practical Magic announcement (the particular font, the candles flickering into light), the studio’s social media directed fans to keep an eye out on TikTok at midnight. But when the witching hour rolled around, the WB TikTok account simply shared a selection of clips from the beloved film with the caption “Own #PracticalMagic on Digital and Stream on MAX.” As far as reveals go, this one was pretty anticlimactic… until the same TikTok account started posting memes about the sequel, confirming, “It’s official… Practical Magic 2 is coming!”

Starting with a fake-out and ending with a handful of memes is an unusual way to do a major movie announcement, to say the least. Sure, a TikTok of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman confirming the sequel would have made a splash! But this rollout went so under the radar that no one outside TikTok even noticed for a while—the Hollywood trades didn’t even pick up the story until hours after it was “officially” announced. Variety and Deadline are now reporting that the sequel is indeed in the works. Kidman and Bullock are in talks to return, and will produce the follow-up alongside the film’s original producer Denise Di Novi. Akiva Goldsman, who co-wrote the original screenplay, will return to write the sequel.

@warnerbrosmovies

It’s official… Practical Magic 2 is coming!

Related Content

• Practical Magic 2 casts resurrection spell, sets release date
• Does Practical Magic hold up? ’Tis the season to find out

♬ original sound – Warner Bros. Movies

@warnerbrosmovies

Can’t talk, busy summoning Practical Magic 2. 🪄✨

♬ original sound – Warner Bros. Movies

Despite the weird announcement strategy, the news will surely excite the coven of devoted fans around Practical Magic. The original film, about two witch sisters who fight to break a generational love curse, has gained a cult following since its 1998 release. The movie is an adaptation of Alice Hoffman’s book of the same name. Hoffman has since written three additional books in the series, two of which are prequels: one that explores the origin of the curse with the sisters’ ancestor, Maria Owens, and one that follows the story of the girls’ aunts, Frances and Jet (played by Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing in the movie). The latter was in development as a Max series back in 2019 that never materialized. The most recent installment, 2021’s The Book Of Magic, follows a journey of all three generations of Owens women (including Sally’s daughter Kylie, played in the original movie by Evan Rachel Wood) as they seek to break the family’s curse. Of course, the movie ended with the curse more or less broken, so that aspect might need tweaking for the sequel.

Hoffman’s novels may provide helpful guidelines for this film, because nostalgia-bait sequels are incredibly tricky territory and rarely live up to the original. (Top Gun: Maverick notwithstanding.) However, it aligns with Warner Bros. Discovery’s dogged strategy of mining the studio’s IP for whatever it’s worth. Having the original stars attached will go a long way (including Wood, if they can get her, seeing that she grew up to be a star in her own right). We’ll see how this movie pans out as it develops, including, apparently, keeping an eye on TikTok for any more important announcements.