Sony Brings Back The Witching Hour With ‘The Craft’ Reboot
The day many fans of The Craft have dreaded is here. Sony is planning a reboot of the supernatural thriller The Craft, but, before fans start to lodge their complaints with Sony, they might want to find out who’s in on the proposed remake. The studio has brought in Leigh Janiak (Honeymoon writer/director) to helm the reboot of The Craft.
As both director and co-writer for The Craft reboot, Janiak may be able to bring something the original film was lacking: a genuine female perspective. It would have seemed common sense that the story of four teenage girls exploring witchcraft and casting spells would require a female somewhere in the creative process, and now The Craft reboot will have that going for it.
IMDb provides a brief synopsis of The Craft (1996), which starred Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True.
“A newcomer to a Catholic prep high school falls in with a trio of outcast teenage girls who practice witchcraft and they all soon conjure up various spells and curses against those who even slightly anger them.”
Additionally, Doug Wick, the producer on the original film, will be returning for The Craft reboot in the same capacity, bringing along Lucy Fisher, former vice chairman of Columbia, to help share the producer’s chair.
It may not be a coincidence that Sony has chosen this time to reproduce the female-centric film The Craft, while adding so much female talent behind the camera. All of the major studios are trying to recover from allegations made by the American Civil Liberties Union that there is a “systemic failure to hire women directors at all levels of the film and television industry.”
There is no word on what changes the plot may take, if any, but it seems very likely that Manon will also see a gender change. Although Manon is a male god in The Craft, the word was taken from the French name, typically considered a female name. Additionally, most pagan religions emphasize the goddess over the god, so it seems probable that The Craft reboot may take that direction.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Leigh Janiak’s hiring for The Craft reboot was already planned, prior to the A.C.L.U.’s criticisms. Sony was interested in Leigh because of her portrayal of female empowerment in Honeymoon. This would seem to insinuate that The Craft reboot will delve more into the coming of age tale only slightly touched upon in the original The Craft film.
Ms. Janiak has also been tapped to direct an upcoming episode of MTV’s television adaptation of Scream.
[Featured image: Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True in The Craft, courtesy of Columbia Pictures]
