Sam Raimi Involved In Rebooting ‘Magic’, The 1978 Forerunner To Killer Doll Cult Classics, Which Starred A Pre-Hannibal Anthony Hopkins
Master of horror Sam Raimi is teaming up with a rising name in the genre, Weapons producer Roy Lee, to raise a cult classic from obscurity. The duo are coming together to conjure up the kind of “Magic” that brings inanimate objects to life; in this case, a ventriloquist’s dummy
Per The Hollywood Reporter, they, along with Lionsgate, are developing a remake of Magic, the 1978 thriller about a ‘living ’ that was part of the act of a crazed, fed-up ventriloquist played by Anthony Hopkins. Dreading a TV deal, the ventriloquist, Corky (Hopkins), retreats to the Catskills with his playmate, Fats.
Instead of a relaxing vacation, Corky’s mental state is worsened when Fats shows signs of life and a taste for murder – or so it seems.
Raimi and Lee are bringing in extra scary might to pen the screenplay. Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, the pair responsible for Freddy vs. Jason and the Friday the 13th remake (which was Jason’s last outing to date at Crystal Lake in 2009), are tapped to write.
The film is co-produced by Chris Hammond and Tim Sullivan, who have been championing this project for a while. Sullivan is called a devotee of the original and with Lionsgate, he and Hammond, “spent considerable time tracking down and bringing together the rights holders of the original film,” says THR.
So, this is a labor of love though Magic might seem like a minor entry in Hopkins’s career in retrospect. Still, it had serious talent behind it.
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The film was directed by Richard Attenborough (Jurassic Park) and written by William Goldman, based on his novel. It co-starred Ann-Margaret and Burgess Meredith, who was in the middle of a career resurgence after Rocky and Batman.
One thing that stood out about the film was its marketing which creepily focused on Fats as movies like this should. Take the following 30-second TV spot, for instance, where Fats (also Hopkins) casts a faux spell and declares “we’re dead.”
This spot was mimed almost beat for beat in a spot for the Chucky TV series in 2021. It might be coincidental, but it is a fitting tribute when Fats arguably walked so Chucky could ‘Play,’ stalk, and slash.
Magic gets favorable reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, especially among critics, and is free to watch on most streaming apps including Amazon and Tubi.
NEXT: Thor’s Anthony Hopkins: “Actors Are Pretty Stupid. My Opinion Is Not Worth Anything”
