The fantasy-romance film Practical Magic opened more than 25 years ago, in 1998, to be precise. Despite the fact that it bombed at the box office, its fans transformed the movie into a cult classic and continually nudged Warner Bros. to greenlight a sequel. Well, it’s officially happening. A sequel is in the works, with some major involvement from a Star Trek talent.
Warner Bros. took to social media last week with a teaser announcing that Practical Magic 2, featuring returning stars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, will open in theaters on September 18, 2026. The Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier, who directed Bullock in Bird Box and Kidman in both The Undoing and The Perfect Couple, will direct the sequel.
The Star Trek factor -- so far -- includes Akiva Goldsman. The Oscar-winning Goldsman co-wrote the original Practical Magic film and, according to the Hollywood trade paper Variety, has penned the upcoming sequel. He co-created Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and has written, produced and/or directed episodes of both series. He’d also produced, directed, and written episodes of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Short Treks, and long before that, popped up briefly on screen in Star Trek (2009) (as a Vulcan) and Star Trek Into Darkness. It was announced earlier this year that Goldsman was working on new iterations of the shows Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants.
Fans of the original Practical Magic may remember that two Star Trek actors appeared in the film. Only one of them could conceivably appear in the sequel. Herta Ware was credited as Old Lady Wilkes. Ware guest-starred as Yvette Picard, Jean-Luc Picard's mother, in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” She passed away in 2005 at the age of 88. Ellen Geer appeared in Practical Magic as Pharmacist. She guest-starred as Kila Marr in the Next Generation episode “Silicon Avatar.” Geer is Ware’s daughter and is still alive at 83, though her most recent credit is a 2020 episode of the show Better Things.
Interestingly, Ware was the grandmother and Geer is the mother of actress Willow Geer, who guest-starred in a first-season episode of Star Trek: Picard. She portrayed Refugee #1 in the episode “Absolute Candor.”
How full-circle would it be if Ellen and Willow Geer turned up in Practical Magic 2?