Follow us on Google News
Get the latest updates directly in your Google News feed
Practical Magicis a film revolving around the magically gifted sisters, Sally and Gillian Owens, played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The fantasy romance drama was based on the namesake book by Alice Hoffman and saw the sisters use magic to destroy the evil spirit of Gillain’s abusive boyfriend, Jimmy Angelov, played by Goran Visnjic.
Just before filmingPractical Magic,Nicole Kidman spent over a year working on Stanely Kubrick’sEyes Wide Shutopposite her ex-husband, Tom Cruise. Since the erotic-psychological drama was quite an intense film, the actors required dozens of takes to finalize a single scene, a trait she carried over toPractical Magic.
Nicole Kidman’s Numerous Takes onPractical Magic
Even thoughEyes Wide Shut(1999) was released one year afterPractical Magic(1998), principal photography for the former began in November 1996 whereas for the latter it began early in 1998. Meaning, thatNicole Kidmanhad already spent months working withStanley KubrickandTom CruiseonEyes WideShut, a film that made $162 million at the box office.
The film pushed the actors to their limits thanks to Kubrick’s desire for perfection. As perVanity Fair, the shoot was simply put, exhausting. While Kidman and Cruise were asked to commit to six months of 1996 initially, they ended up having to stay back for much more than they expected. Since filming finally wrapped in 1998, you can do the math of how exhausting it must have been for the cast and crew.
But that’s not all. While filming wrapped in January 1998, they were called back for reshoots in May. In the end, they spent a total of 15 months on the film.
“I don’t think you should just give up”: Nicole Kidman Would Have Retired From Acting and Grown Vegetables at Farm If It Wasn’t For One Person
The actors had to do a ton of retakes for even the simplest of the scenes including the time when Kubrick asked Cruise to do 95 takes for his character walking through a door. He even asked Kidman to shoot her naked scenes with a male model for six days and asked the duo to pose in about 50 erotic positions. Needless to say,Eyes Wide Shut’s excessive shoots, retakes, and the exhausting nature of the work must’ve taken a toll on the actors.
Kidman ended up bringing over this habit of retakes to Griffin Dunne’sPractical Magic.According toIMDb, the director faced an unusual issue during filming related to how many retakes Kidman andSandra Bullockneeded.
While Bullock would reportedly be done in about two to three takes, Kidman would need 70-80 takes to get a shot done since she was so accustomed to doing things the Kubrick way thanks toEyes Wide Shut.While perfectionism is great sometimes, other times it can set back the efficiency and flow of filmmaking.
Regardless, the film eventually came together, and how! Both the lead actresses were phenomenal in their respective roles and while the film received mixed reviews from critics, the chemistry between Bullock and Kidman was applauded.
Abracadabra:Practical MagicReturns!
Warner Bros. took toInstagramto announce the return ofPractical Magic.On June 10, they posted a clip three clips from the film announcing the sequel and captioned the post,“It’s official! Practical Magic 2 is in development and coming soon.”
People were over the moon upon hearing the news and the comment section was filled with excitement and fans hoping that Kidman and Bullock return to create more magic. According toE! News, the deals to bring back the actresses are currently underway.
“They hired someone else to do it”: Sandra Bullock’s ‘Practical Magic’ Co-Star Regretted Lying to Get a Free Trip to Paris That Made Her Feel Embarrassed for Life
The sequel will be written byAkiva Goldsmanwho was also the writer of the O.G. film along with Robin Swicord and Adam Brooks.
Varietyreported that along with returning producer Denise Di Novi, Bullock and Kidman are also expected to work as producers. Apart from this, there is no news regarding either the storyline or the cast of the sequel. All we know is that we will be seated when the magic returns.
You can streamPractical Magicon Max.
Mishkaat Khan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2257
A connoisseur of all things horror, fantasy, and the occasional chick flick, Mishkaat has been penning pieces for FandomWire since 2022. She started off as an intern and has worked her way up to a Senior Writer with over 2000 articles to her name.Outside of entertainment, she has also written well-researched medical content as a freelance writer and has experience in social media management.When not writing, you may find her relaxing with a romance novel and a tall glass of iced coffee in her hand or watching re-runs of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘The Office.’
