From Baz Luhrmann‘s Moulin Rouge! to everyone’s favorite Paddington, Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman has been part of some beloved big-screen projects. Earlier this year, Kidman delivered yet another hit with Scarpetta, a Prime Video hit based on the bestselling book series by Patricia Cornwell, which currently places third on the streamer’s U.S. charts. She has followed this up with another streaming smash that currently tops the Apple TV charts: Margo’s Got Money Troubles.
However, beyond these two new small-screen favorites, Kidman will be returning to theaters later this year with the long-awaited follow-up to a fantasy cult classic. On September 11, Practical Magic 2will make its theatrical debut, with Kidman and Sandra Bullockreprising their roles as Gillian and Sally Owens, sisters descended from a long line of witches. With Susanne Bier taking over directing duties from Griffin Dune, the sequel features a blend of new and returning faces. Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest reprise their roles from the original, with Joey King, Maisie Williams, Solly McLeod, Xolo Maridueña, and Lee Pace added to the ensemble.
The sequel will be based on Alice Hoffman’s 2021 novel, The Book of Magic, which she penned 26 years after the original. The original in question, released in 1995, spawned a 1998 movie adaptation that today holds as one of Kidman’s most underrated projects. Ahead of the sequel, you’ll likely want to catch up on the magic that came before. Alas, you’ll have to hurry, as Practical Magic is reportedly leaving HBO Max on May 1, 2026. A synopsis reads:
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“Sally and Gillian Owens, born into a magical family, have mostly avoided witchcraft themselves. But when Gillian’s vicious boyfriend, Jimmy Angelov, dies unexpectedly, the Owens sisters give themselves a crash course in hard magic. With policeman Gary Hallet growing suspicious, the girls struggle to resurrect Angelov — and unwittingly inject his corpse with an evil spirit that threatens to end their family line.”
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
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🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
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01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
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02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
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03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
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04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
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05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
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06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
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07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
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08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
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Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
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The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
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You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
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You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
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You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
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Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
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You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
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What Makes ‘Practical Magic’ a Cult Hit?
Goran Visnjic stands seductively behind Nicole Kidman in Practical Magic.Image via Warner Bros.
For a movie to be considered a cult hit, it must have initially underperformed, most often financially, before bouncing back as an enduring favorite of a dedicated fanbase. Practical Magic certainly hits this criterion, falling to a disappointing $68 million box office haul in 1998, against a reported $60 million budget. The film was also panned by critics upon arrival, earning just 27% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. However, the movie’s 73% audience score on the same site tells the tale of a fantasy effort that received its flowers a little too late.
Practical Magic is leaving HBO Max. Stay tuned to Collider for more streaming stories.
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