In the late 1990s, chick flicks and rom-coms were all the rage. Some of the biggest stars in Hollywood made their way to fame through these movies.
One such movie was Practical Magic, starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. The two actresses played sisters who also happened to be witches. Unfortunately, the sisters' magical powers come at a price: The men they fall in love with always die.
The film cost $75 million to make, but it only made $68 million when it hit theaters — failing to break even.
On top of that, the movie was panned by critics, who didn't take to its strange combination of comedy, horror, and romance.
Still, Practical Magic has become something of a cult classic since its initial box office failure in 1998.
So why did it flop so badly upon its release? Director Griffin Dunne says it's because the movie was cursed by an actual witch.
[H/T: Vulture]
As Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman have become serious actresses over the years, their fanbases have grown.
Now, their fans have created a new life for one of the actress' earlier films: Practical Magic.
Before the movie came out, everyone expected it to do well with the two stars leading the cast, but it completely flopped in theaters.
Why did it do so poorly? Director Griffin Dunne suggests it's because the film was cursed by an actual witch.
Griffin told Vulture:
I had [conversations] with this witch consultant.
I thought she was a really intelligent person, and I invited her to come to Los Angeles to observe the rehearsals with Sandy and Nicole.
I had my producer make her a reservation at a nice hotel and call her, and the witch goes, “You’re not going to buy me off with a hotel room. I want a percentage of the movie. I’m going to have my own ‘Practical Magic’ cookbook.”
She was paid quite well, and she says, “I want an additional $250,000 dollars.”
The producer told her that’s just not possible. And she goes crazy and scares the sh*t out of the producer.
She says, "I’m going to put a curse on you. I’m putting a curse on this movie, and I’m putting a curse on Griffin."
So the producer comes back to my rehearsal, white as a ghost, and she tells me, “That call did not go well. She’s really really angry.” I had no idea quite what happened, so I get back to my office on the Warner Bros. lot and I listen to my voice mail.
"How dare you sic that shrew on me? You think you can buy me off? Well let me tell you something. There is a land of curses!" And then, she slips into tongues. It was terrifying. I listened to as much as I could, and then I hung up. Within minutes, Warner’s been served with papers. She’s suing Warner Bros.
Yeah. So I give the legal department the tape, and they can’t listen to it all the way through, either.
They’re so freaked out by it, they just pay the witch off. I don’t know how much, but enough to make her go away.
You know, I got a great thing out of this. It inspired one of Aiden [Quinn’s] lines: “Curses only have power when you believe them.”
I decided I’m just not going to believe in this. It was creepy. If I’d watched the scene in a horror movie, I would be freaked by it. But this is real life.
Griffin's career didn't exactly soar after Practical Magic, so he's more surprised than anyone that it's found a second life.
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