“Practical Magic 2” producer reveals sequel plot will adapt “Book of Magic” novel: 'Going to be very faithful'

Producer Denise Di Novi exclusively tells EW she thinks fans of the Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman sequel are "going to be very pleased" with the new movie.

Practical Magic 2 is about to conjure even more witchy source material from novelist Alice Hoffman, as Entertainment Weekly can exclusively reveal that the upcoming Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman sequel will adapt the story of the writer's follow-up novel, The Book of Magic, for the new movie.

Producer Denise Di Novi tells EW that the Practical Magic sequel's plot will draw heavily from Hoffman's 2021 book, which is the fourth published novel in the series that began with the 1995 original, though the two prior installments served as prequels.

“I think [fans are] going to be very pleased. We’re going to be very faithful. We’re cognizant to how important those characters and that movie are to so many people. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel," Di Novi explains. “We’re going to draw from Alice Hoffman’s books, as the first movie did, and we’re going to be true to the chronology of how many years later it is."

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Though Bullock and Kidman, who first portrayed witch siblings Sally and Gillian Owens in the 1998 film, are on board as producers and stars, Di Novi says "we’re not 100 percent sure which characters will return" among the other cast members. Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest costarred in the project as the central siblings' aunts, Frances and Bridget "Jet" Owens, alongside Goran Visnjic, Evan Rachel Wood, Aidan Quinn, and Caprice Benedetti.

Di Novi stresses that the team will "be respectful to the characters, story, and locations," in both the films and Hoffman's novels, and adds that the movie's release date will fall next year.

“It’s going to be in 2025, but I’m not exactly sure when," she says. "We’re just beginning the script, and Akiva Goldsman, who worked on the original and 10 million things since then, is writing the script.”

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EW has reached out to Warner Bros. — which first teased the sequel's gestation on social media in June — for comment.

In addition to her work as a veteran producer, Di Novi explains that she's also making strides in another area of her career as a painter, years after producing iconic Hollywood titles like Practical Magic, Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and both the 1994 and 2019 versions of Little Women.

"I’m having my first gallery show. It inspires people!" Di Novi explains, adding that her experience with grief led her to experimenting in new mediums before her first exhibition in August at The Honarker Foundation in Laguna Beach, Calif. "My husband passed away four years ago and I started painting, and it’s become a huge passion for me."

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.