Rejected pitches for Practical Magic 2.

This week, whimsigoths from New England to the PNW will be celebrating a long-awaited sequel. Practical Magic 2 revisits characters first conjured in Alice Hoffman’s best-selling novel, and made cult classic in the 1998 film adaptation, which follows the Owens sisters/aunts through a spooky caper in a beautifully lit Cape Cod. The groupchat is excited.

But after so long away from the island, we got questions. Though word on the street says the plot of Practical Magic 2 is lifted from Hoffman’s 2021 sequel, The Book of Magic, I’ve also spent the past twenty years imagining the Owens’ fate. But once again, the people at Denise Di Novi’s office refused to get back to me.

As you polish your broomsticks and margarita recipes, consider if you will what might have been. Jimmy Angelov, the vampire-coded deadbeat, just can’t seem to quit the Owens line. His nasty spirit comes unstuck from the grave when Antonia, the brown-haired Millennial witch, works a wonky raise-the-dead spell directed at her late great aunt. (RIP, Jet.) Though most of the island’s departed are benevolent fishermen and judgmental PTA parents—insert a murderer’s row of character actors here—Jimmy is as inclined to mayhem now as he was in the 90s.

And the big nap’s only made him thirstier for tequila spiked with sister blood. This sequel finds the entire island rocked by a ghost plague, requiring busters—some from the spirit realm. (Keep eyes peeled for the deus ex matriarch, Maria.) A B plot entails old husband hijinks, when the late fruit vendor rises only to discover that he’s been replaced by a state trooper. Sally must learn if it’s really possible to love two men at once—especially if one is a ghost.

Will a supernatural pancake flipping contest settle her unruly heart? As in the original, hatchets must be buried and covens assembled to answer these questions. And hubris is the inciting incident.

Antonia, as powerful as her mother but as undisciplined as her aunt, must learn that practice makes perfect. And, no one should raise the dead. In Hoffman’s novel, the aunts also tinker with reproductive healthcare, in the grand tradition of witch-aligned professions.