After 26 years, the magic is finally returning to the big screen. Practical Magic 2 is set to hit theaters on September 18, 2026, with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman reprising their iconic roles as the Owens sisters. But what can fans expect from this long-awaited sequel? The answer lies in Alice Hoffman’s enchanting literary universe, particularly her 2021 novel “The Book of Magic.”
The Source Material: A Journey Back to the Owens Legacy
The sequel will be based on Alice Hoffman’s “The Book of Magic,” published in 2021, which serves as the fourth installment in her Practical Magic series. It’s described as the conclusion to the Practical Magic series, bringing together three generations of Owens women to finally break the centuries-old family curse.
The story begins when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside.
What’s at Stake: The Curse Must Finally End
The story brings together characters from previous books, taking audiences from Massachusetts to Paris, to London, as the family journeys to find an end to the curse. This global adventure suggests a much more expansive narrative than the cozy Massachusetts setting that defined the original film.
The heart of “The Book of Magic” revolves around the Owens family’s desperate race against time. The curse that has plagued the family for over three hundred years in matters of love is finally about to change. Unlike the original film, which focused primarily on Sally and Gillian’s immediate crisis with Jimmy’s vengeful spirit, this sequel promises a much grander scope.
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Character Expectations: Three Generations Unite
The Returning Favorites
Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, and Dianne Wiest are all set to reprise their roles from the first film, bringing back the beloved dynamic between Sally, Gillian, and the wise aunts Frances and Jet. Producer Denise Di Novi has promised that “We’re going to be very faithful. We’re cognizant to how important those characters and that movie are to so many people.”
The Next Generation Takes Center Stage
One of the most exciting aspects of the sequel will be seeing Sally’s daughters, Kylie and Antonia, as fully grown women. In the original film, they were young children, but in the books, Kylie is in her early teens and Antonia in her late teens, allowing for much more character development and their own love interests.
Kylie, who inherited her mother Sally’s sensitivity but develops her own unique abilities, can see colors of emotion coming off people and has a special connection to their ancestor Maria Owens. The cast will also include new members such as Joey King, Xolo Maridueña, Maisie Williams, and Lee Pace, suggesting these may be the grown-up Owens daughters and their romantic interests.
The Long-Lost Brother
The story involves “one long-lost brother” joining the three generations of Owens women, which likely refers to Vincent Owens, a character from Hoffman’s prequel novels who practiced dark magic. This addition could bring a fascinating new dynamic to the family’s magical abilities and internal conflicts.
Will “the house” return?
One of the most beloved aspects of the original “Practical Magic” was the enchanting Victorian house that served as the Owens family home. The stunning white Victorian mansion was actually an elaborate architectural shell built specifically for the film on San Juan Island, Washington, taking six months to construct and landscape at a cost of $80,000 to rent the location Designed by Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch of Roman and Williams, the house was inspired by late 19th-century scrollwork, East Coast lighthouses, and Victorian architecture.
The house became so iconic that after the movie’s release, Barbra Streisand reportedly called asking to buy it, only to be told it was “fictional” and had been torn down. All interior scenes were filmed on a soundstage in Los Angeles, with the set designers creating what Alice Hoffman described as “a complete physical world out of their imagination.” The kitchen, with its massive farmhouse table, white-washed cabinets, and the central Aga stove that served as “almost like a shrine” where “they place the cauldron”, became the heart of the home where the family’s magical work took place.
Since the original house was demolished after filming wrapped, the production team for “Practical Magic 2” faces the challenge of either reconstructing this beloved architectural marvel or creating an entirely new vision of the Owens family home that honors both the passage of time and the enduring magic that defines their legacy.
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What I Hope For: Embracing the Darker Feminine
While the source material provides a rich foundation, there’s tremendous opportunity for the film adaptation to lean into more complex themes that resonate with contemporary audiences—particularly around the exploration of feminine rage, power, and the multifaceted nature of womanhood.
Nicole Kidman has become a master of portraying the intricate psychology of women navigating power, trauma, and societal expectations. Her recent work has established her as the definitive voice for “wealthy white women in crisis,” from the domestic abuse survivor in Big Little Lies to the manipulative matriarch in The Perfect Couple, each role revealing the complex layers beneath polished exteriors. In her latest film “Babygirl,” Kidman has pushed even further into exploring female sexuality and agency, describing the emotionally and physically demanding work as “disturbing” but necessary.
This evolution in Kidman’s career trajectory suggests she’s uniquely positioned to bring depth to a more mature Gillian Owens—one who has lived with decades of consequences from the family curse and her own choices. Rather than simply retreading the “finding love” narrative that dominated the original film, there’s potential to explore themes of female rage at societal constraints, the power dynamics within families, and what it means to reclaim agency after years of being defined by others’ expectations.
The beauty of Hoffman’s “Book of Magic” lies in its focus on sisterhood across generations. The book celebrates strong women who support each other and their right to be individuals, showing how the Owens family evolves from persecution and isolation to becoming part of a larger community. Modern book adaptations often successfully update source material to reflect contemporary values—and there’s hope that “Practical Magic 2” will prioritize the bonds between women over romantic fulfillment as the ultimate resolution.
The original film, while beloved, was very much a product of the late 1990s, when a woman’s story often centered on finding the right man to complete her. Today’s audiences crave more complex narratives about female relationships, particularly the ways women support each other through trauma, transformation, and the reclaiming of personal power. The multigenerational aspect of this story provides the perfect framework to explore how different generations of women process pain, wielding both literal and metaphorical magic as tools of survival and empowerment.
Tone and Themes: Darker Magic, Deeper Stakes
While the original “Practical Magic” had its dark moments, “The Book of Magic” promises to delve deeper into the more serious aspects of the Owens legacy. The book celebrates strong women who support each other and their right to be individuals, beginning chronologically with persecution, betrayal and death, but ending with a sense of the Owens family being part of a community.
The story explores how each generation deals with the curse and its restrictions, blending contemporary fiction with magical realism. Expect themes of sacrifice, family loyalty, and the true meaning of love to take center stage.
Production Details and Timeline
Susanne Bier is directing the sequel, with Akiva Goldsman writing the screenplay. Bier’s previous collaborations with both stars—directing Bullock in “Bird Box” and Kidman in “The Undoing” and “The Perfect Couple”—suggest she understands how to showcase their talents.
The film will be “true to the chronology of how many years later it is”, acknowledging the real-time passage since the original 1998 film. This approach allows the story to naturally incorporate the aging of the characters and the maturation of Sally’s daughters.
What Fans Can Anticipate
Based on Hoffman’s source material, “Practical Magic 2” promises:
- A global adventure spanning multiple countries as the family seeks to break their ancestral curse
- Higher stakes with multiple generations of Owens women working together
- Deeper exploration of the family’s magical heritage and dark history
- More complex relationships as the younger generation discovers family secrets
- A definitive conclusion to the centuries-old curse that has defined the Owens legacy
“The Book of Magic” is described as “a breathtaking conclusion that celebrates mothers and daughters, sisters and brothers, and anyone who has ever been in love”. If the film adaptation captures even half of this emotional depth while maintaining the charm that made the original a cult classic, fans are in for a truly magical experience.
The September 2026 release can’t come soon enough for those who have been under the Owens family spell for nearly three decades. After all, as the original film taught us, some magic is worth waiting for.
Hi ♥️, I’m Gisele Stein, author of feel-good novels with a little magic and places like characters, which i craft from my cosy cabin on Wadandi Boodja in Western Australia. Have a look at my books here. I’m also podcasting as The Earthy Writer, to document my rewilding year: Every new moon, I set a new rewilding intention for the month, and every full moon I share my learnings with you…
