Sony has been developing a reboot of the 1996 cult classic The Craft for the last several years, and now it's finally coming together, as Blumhouse has come on to produce and Zoe Lister-Jones has been tapped to write and direct the beloved film about a coven of young witches and female empowerment.
Sony will co-finance the film with Blumhouse, whose Jason Blum will produce alongside Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher of Red Wagon Entertainment, who produced the original film. Original Craft director Andrew Fleming will executive produce with Red Wagon's Lucas Wiesendanger.
Remaking/rebooting The Craft seems like a no-brainer to me, seeing as how female-driven films are hotter than ever at the box office, with Captain Marvel breaking all kinds of records. I'd also like to see "goth" films have a bit of a resurgence among the mainstream, and while I have no idea which direction Lister-Jones will take this movie, the "goth" scene is certainly part of its DNA. To lose that element would be to betray its roots, in my opinion.
Leigh Janiak (Honeymoon) was originally set to direct The Craft, but the project never quite came together on her watch. I wasn't a huge fan of Honeymoon, so I can't say I'm sad to see her go (though I do have faith in her Fear Street franchise), but Lister-Jones strikes me as a lateral move. She doesn't have the genre chops that Janiak came to the project with, but her first film, Band Aid, boasts an 85% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so she has earned a shot at a studio directing gig.
Lister-Jones previously wrote, executive produced and starred in the Fox Searchlight movie Lola Versus, and she also co-wrote, produced and starred in the indie comedy Breaking Upwards. On the television side, Lister-Jones’ comedy pilot Woman Up was recently greenlit at ABC, and she currently stars opposite Colin Hanks in Life in Pieces, which is set to return for its fourth season on CBS. She's represented by WME and Mosaic, and news of her hire was first reported by Full Circle Cinema.
Red Wagon produced the Divergent series as well as female-driven films like Girl, Interrupted and Working Girl. Wick is currently working with director Ridley Scott to develop a sequel to Gladiator at Paramount. As for Blumhouse, it's coming off of Glass, Upgrade and Happy Death Day 2U, and the company is already in business with Sony on the Fantasy Island movie.
The Craft starred Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Rachel True and Skeet Ulrich, and its soundtrack featured bangers from Letters to Cleo, Love Spit Love and Spacehog, so go find that on Spotify or wherever you crazy kids stream music these days.
