The Craft: Legacy
DirectorZoe Lister-Jones
Producer
WriterZoe Lister-Jones
Starring
MusicHeather Christian
CinematographyHillary Spera
EditingLibby Cuenin
Production companies
DistributorSony Pictures Home Entertainment
ReleasedOctober 28, 2020
Runtime97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$18 million
Gross$2.3 million[1]

The Craft: Legacy, also known as Blumhouse's The Craft: Legacy,[2] is a 2020 American supernatural horror film[2] written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones. A legacy sequel to The Craft (1996), the film stars Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone, and Zoey Luna as four teenage girls who practice witchcraft as a coven. Additional cast includes Nicholas Galitzine, Michelle Monaghan, and David Duchovny, with Fairuza Balk making a cameo appearance.

The Craft: Legacy was released in the United States through video on demand on October 28, 2020, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment under its Columbia Pictures label, with a theatrical release in select international markets beginning the same day. The film was a box-office bomb, earning $2.3 million worldwide on an $18 million budget, and received mixed reviews from critics. It was nominated for the 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Wide Theatrical Release.

Plot

Lily Schechner moves into the town with her therapist mother, Helen, to live with Helen's new boyfriend Adam Harrison and his three sons, Jacob, Isaiah, and Abe. At the new school, she begins her period and bleeds through in class, and is mocked by classmates. When school bully Timmy Andrews antagonizes Lily, she telekinetically pushes Timmy into the lockers.

Her feat is witnessed by three girls, Frankie, Tabby, and Lourdes. When Lily communicates with them telepathically, the girls reveal themselves as fellow witches and invite her to join their coven. With the fourth member, the coven can now perform the complex ritual to freeze time.

The girls experiment with their powers, including levitation. They cast a spell on Timmy, changing his behavior to be more sensitive. After learning of the incident at school, Adam scolds Lily, but Helen defends her. Lily overhears them arguing and goes outside where Abe talks to her about his father's authoritarian beliefs.

Timmy invites the coven to his and apologizes to Lily, eventually making peace with the coven. When Timmy is at Lily's home for a school project, he admits that he is bisexual and had sex with Isaiah, Jacob's elder brother. Later, Lily places a love spell on Timmy and the two kiss. The next morning, during class, the coven is told by their teacher that Timmy allegedly committed suicide the night before. Lily admits to her friends about her kiss and love spell. They sever ties with her and bind themselves from magic.

Sensing something dangerous from Adam, Lily asks Helen to move out, to no avail. Searching Adam's office for something to use against him, Lily finds her own adoption papers. Helen reveals that Lily's biological mother is one of Helen's psychotherapy patients. After Timmy's funeral, Helen tells Lily she agrees to move out. Helen also admits that she knows about her powers. The conversation prompts Helen to ask Lily to give her powers to Helen. When Lily grows suspicious of her, Helen shapeshifts into Adam who has disguised himself with his own magic. Adam tells her he is a member of a pagan cult and that he has been after her powers since the beginning, before knocking her unconscious.

Lily awakens in a forest at night with Adam, who reveals that he murdered Timmy and plans to kill her too. When Timmy's spirit contacts Lily's friends through a Ouija board and tells them about being murdered by Adam, they arrive to save Lily. They try to freeze time, but Adam subdues them quickly. The girls then work together and use their elemental powers to defeat Adam, burning him to death. Later, Lily continues her friendship with the girls and Helen takes her to a mental health hospital to meet her birth mother, who is revealed to be Nancy Downs.

Production

Development

A straight-to-DVD sequel to The Craft was in the works circa 2010, but never moved forward.[3][4] In May 2016, Sony Pictures announced that a sequel was in development and would be written and directed by Leigh Janiak. The announcement of the sequel spawned negative reactions from fans of the original.[5][6][7]

In March 2019, Zoe Lister-Jones was named as writer and director of the soft reboot, with Jason Blum as producer under his Blumhouse Productions banner, Andrew Fleming (director of the 1996 film) as executive producer, and Columbia Pictures distributing.[8]

Casting

In June 2019, Cailee Spaeny was set to star in the film.[9] In September 2019, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone, and Zoey Luna joined the cast as the other witches.[10] In October 2019, Nicholas Galitzine, David Duchovny, Julian Grey, and Michelle Monaghan were also added,[11][12][13][14] and in November 2019, Donald MacLean Jr. was cast.[15]

Filming

Principal photography began in October 2019.[16] During filming in Toronto, director Zoe Lister-Jones explained in an on-set interview that The Craft sequel "centers on young people, and young women specifically coming into their power in today's current climate".[17]

Music

The film's original music, composed by Heather Christian, was released digitally by Madison Gate Records on October 28, 2020.[18]

Release

The Craft: Legacy was released on video on demand by Sony Pictures Releasing on October 28, 2020, followed by a theatrical release internationally.[19][20] The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 22, 2020, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.[21]

Reception

Box office

In its first weekend the film earned $680,000 while in the following weekend it earned $390,000 and in its third $242,000.

Critical response

On Metacritic, the film has a score of 54 out of 100 based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[22]

Kate Erbland, writing for Indiewire, said the film is "an entertaining and insightful mashup of tropes, both respectful of what came before and willing to try new tricks".[23] Sheila O'Malley of RogerEbert.com gave the film two stars, saying, "The Craft: Legacy gets sidetracked with the Timmy sub-plot, and the film morphs into a teenage soap opera and/or ABC Afterschool Special."[24]

Accolades

The Craft: Legacy was nominated for the 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film (Wide Release).[25]

Future

In October 2020, when interviewed about Fairuza Balk's cameo, Zoe Lister-Jones explained that she wrote the script with a continuation in mind.[26] Lister-Jones also revealed that she had met with the original film's actresses during the preparation for Legacy and that she would be interested in making a third installment with an intergenerational storyline.[27]

References

  1. ^ "The Craft: Legacy Box Office". The Numbers. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  2. ^ "BLUMHOUSE'S THE CRAFT: LEGACY | Sony Pictures Entertainment". www.sonypictures.com. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  3. ^ "The Craft – Sequel". Bloody-disgusting.com. Archived July 7, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  4. ^ "BD Horror News – 'The Craft' Sequel Officially Dead in the Water". Bloody-disgusting.com. Archived September 9, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  5. ^ "The Craft is getting a sequel". Vogue.com.au. May 12, 2016. Archived March 5, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  6. ^ "Fans in uproar over the Craft remake | Irish Examiner". May 15, 2015. Archived May 20, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  7. ^ Balk, Fairuza (May 20, 2015). "FYI- I did not say I thought remaking The Craft specifically was a bad idea- I said remakes -IN GENERAL-tend to be a bad idea.". No. 601156686414512128.
  8. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 26, 2019). "Columbia Pictures & Blumhouse Officially Tap Zoe Lister-Jones To Direct & Write 'The Craft' Reboot". Deadline Hollywood. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  9. ^ Galuppo, Mia (June 21, 2019). "'The Craft' Reboot Finds Lead With Cailee Spaeny (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  10. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (September 19, 2019). "Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone, Zoey Luna Join Cailee Spaeny To Lead 'The Craft' Remake From Blumhouse". Deadline Hollywood. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  11. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (October 8, 2019). "'The Craft': Nicholas Galitzine Set For Sony, Blumhouse Revamp". Deadline Hollywood. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  12. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 16, 2019). "'The Craft' Casts Spell Over David Duchovny As 'X-Files' Actor Joins Blumhouse-Sony Revamp". Deadline Hollywood. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  13. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 22, 2019). "'The Craft': Netflix 'Godless' Star Julian Grey Joins Sony-Blumhouse Revamp". Deadline Hollywood. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  14. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 24, 2019). "Michelle Monaghan Under The Spell Of Blumhouse-Sony's 'The Craft'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived December 29, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  15. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 5, 2019). "Donald MacLean Jr. Joins 'The Craft' Cult". Deadline Hollywood. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  16. ^ "Directors Guild Canada". Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  17. ^ Cairns, Bryan (October 2, 2020). "'The Craft: Legacy' is Bringing Back That Cult-Classic Magic for a New Era". SyFy. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  18. ^ "'The Craft: Legacy' Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. October 27, 2020. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  19. ^ Chichizola, Corey (September 29, 2020). "Blumhouse's The Craft: Legacy Trailer Reveals Connection To The Original". CinemaBlend. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  20. ^ Squires, John (September 29, 2020). "Blumhouse's New Movie 'The Craft: Legacy' is a Sequel to the 1996 Original Film!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  21. ^ "'The Craft: Legacy' Blu-Ray". Blu-Ray.com. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  22. ^ "The Craft: Legacy Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  23. ^ Erbland, Kate (October 28, 2020). "'The Craft: Legacy' Review: Cult '90s Teen Witch Classic Gets a Clever Modern Sequel". Indiewire. Archived January 13, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  24. ^ O'Malley, Sheila (October 28, 2020). "The Craft: Legacy movie review (2020)". RogerEbert.com
  25. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (January 28, 2021). "GLAAD Unveils Nominees For 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards; Deadline's New Hollywood Podcast Honored With Special Recognition Award". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived January 28, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  26. ^ Nemiroff, Perri (October 30, 2020). "'The Craft' Director Zoe Lister-Jones Teases More Screen Time for [SPOILER] in the Next Sequel". Collider
  27. ^ "The Craft: Legacy' SPOILERS! Cameos, Sequel Plans and Easter Eggs REVEALED". YouTube. Entertainment Tonight. November 3, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2021.