Of all the potential prequel series to come out of this year, we weren’t expecting HBO’s latest: a prequel series to 1998 fantasy rom-com Practical Magic.
According to Variety, HBO Max has recently ordered a pilot commitment for the hour-long drama, titled Rules Of Magic. The pilot will be based on the novels Rules Of Magic and Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman.
For those unfamiliar, the film version of Practical Magic was directed by Griffin Dunne from a screenplay by Robin Swicord, Akiva Goldsman and Adam Brooks.
It starred Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, who grow up navigating both magic and their love lives. The film also stars Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing as the sisters’ magical aunts, as well as Goran Visnjic, Aidan Quinn, Caprice Benedetti and Evan Rachel Wood.
The new series will be set in 1960s New York City, and follow three troubled siblings — Franny, Jet and Vincent Owens — who wrestle with ‘abnormalities’ that have kept them isolated. But the tumultuous times unearth the extraordinary discovery that they are, in fact, descendants of a bloodline of witches. The who sisters will become the revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in Practical Magic, while their brother will leave an unexpected legacy.
Jessica Jones‘ Melissa Rosenberg is set to write the script and executive produce the series via Tall Girls Productions, with Dana Baratta also writing and EPing, and Denise Di Novi and Nina Tassler of PatMa Productions and writer Hoffman serving as executive producers. The project is coming from Warner Bros Television.
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