A remake of the 1996 film, The Craft, is up for release at Amazon Prime sooner than expected. The new version of the cult classic is ready for viewing on Halloween.
Amazon confirmed that the 2020 version of The Craft will air its platform on Oct. 27. It was in the list of upcoming films and series for the next month. The remake stars Michelle Monaghan, David Duchovny, Cailee Spaeny, Hannah Gordon, Donald MacLean Jr., Lovie Simone, Gideon Adlon, Nicholas Galitzine, Julian Grey, Charles Vandervaart, and Zoey Luna.
Actress Zoe Lister-Jones helmed the film and also wrote the screenplay. The synopsis of the new version doesn’t stray from the original film as it was announced in March 2019.
“When starting at a new school, Hannah befriends Tabby, Lourdes, and Frankie & quickly becomes the fourth member of their Clique. Hannah soon learns that she somehow brings great power to the quartet,” the plot summary indicated.
Terrific group of actresses
In 2019, Monaghan said that the remake will feature a group of “terrific young actresses” just like in the first film. She described the set of The Craft as a mostly female production.
Monaghan does not want to reveal her role in the movie, but she said that the remake is relevant and timely. The actress also praised Lister-Jones’s work because she apparently knew the best ways to imagine this cult classic.
Here's what @realmonaghan told us about working on @Blumhouse's #TheCraft remake.
Full #ColliderLadiesNight episode here: https://t.co/KKZ5plDSGN pic.twitter.com/tHWx553Pqa
— Collider Extras (@ColliderVideo) December 31, 2019
Producer Doug Wick said in an interview with ComicBook that they approached many writers to do the remake until they found the right fit with Lister-Jones. He said that they are happy with the outcome as the writer and director apparently delivered the right tone and feel the producer wanted.
Lister-Jones even consulted with Pam Grossman, who is an expert on witchcraft. Incidentally, Wick did the original movie nearly three decades ago, which starred Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, Fairuza Balk, and Rachel True.
Developing the remake
The Craft remake entered into production in July 2019. Blumhouse has been wanting to reboot the movie since 2015. The script back then was written by men and underwent several rewrites.
The original plan was to do a sequel in the vein of Mary Poppins Return. Wick said in an interview in 2016 that the reboot would have callbacks to the first film and will tie the magic of the past and the present characters. Lister-Jones’ ideas, however, have none of these, but the story of the new version is still a mystery despite the synopsis.
The Craft remake drops on Amazon Prime on Oct. 27, 2020.
Image courtesy of ScreamFactoryTV/YouTube