The past few years have seen an exciting horror renaissance, with a variety of new and exciting properties heading to theaters and making a ton of money in the process. Many of these modern hits have come to us from Blumhouse Productions, although the studio also recently turned its focus onto the classics. Following the record breaking success of 2018's Halloween, another beloved horror movie is getting the remake: The Craft. And now the film's producer has shared his thoughts about the updated witch-centric story.
The Craft hit theaters back in 1996. Directed by Andrew Fleming and produced by Douglas Wick, the movie was a surprise box office hit that eventually developed a cult following as the film was played on syndication. Wick is once again returning to help produce the upcoming remake with Blumhouse, which is directed and written by Zoe Lister-Jones. The producer recently spoke to this new version of The Craft, saying:
It's always challenging, because I did The Craft so many years ago, and I started doing it because I just wanted to make a movie about teen-aged girls coming into their sexuality and as I was reading about it, I was reading that the age-old mythology for talking about female empowerment and fear of it was witchcraft.So then I started going to writers to try and do that. We talked to so many people and we found a really talented female writer/director and we're happy with what she's doing, so we'll see.
Well, this is certainly hopeful. The new version of The Craft has some seriously big shoes to fill considering how beloved the original movie was. But luckily there is some connective tissue between the two projects, with Douglas Wick serving as a producer in both incarnations of The Craft. But the question is: what will the remake include?
Douglas Wick's comments come from a recent conversation the producer had with Comic Book. The 1996 original The Craft was focused on a group of young high school witches, who were bonding and coming into their power as women. But power tends to corrupt, eventually resulting in some fatalities and Fairuza Balk's Nancy went nuts after invoking the spirit. Will the same type of corruption and action happen in the remake as well?
Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, Blumhouse's remake of The Craft will once again follow four young witches. This modern take will be far more diverse, including multiple women of color, one of which is also transgender. It should be interesting to see if/how the new movie is connected to the original, and how magic is portrayed on screen this time around.
There's obviously been some major steps forward in regards to visual effects, so a modern version of The Craft has the potential to have even more terrifying visuals. Of course, there was something especially visceral about the practical effects used in the original, including the countless snakes and creatures that appeared in movie's final battle.
CinemaBlend will keep you updated on all things The Craft as more details become public. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
