The Practical Magic Sequel Tops the Box Office: the West’s Witch Wave Is Back

Last weekend I opened the American box office chart and found a name at number one I had not expected at all: Practical Magic 2. (The 1998 original is usually known in Chinese-speaking markets as 《超异能快感》, and the sequel mostly as 《超异能快感：魔法之书》.) Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman — the magical sisters of the first film — are back together 28 years later, with roughly $28 million to $30 million in North America over the opening weekend (estimates vary by outlet) and about $46 million worldwide. That was enough for first place, and it ended the six-week run of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Tom Holland’s fourth Spider-Man) at the top. The trade press, though, was hardly enthusiastic: Variety’s headline simply said “fizzles” — first place, but short of expectations.

A witch-themed sequel taking the weekend in today’s volume of content — I went back through the history and found that this “witch wave” comes around in the West every few decades.

From a capital crime to public publication, 460-odd years

• 1486: a book called the Malleus Maleficarum is published and becomes the handbook for witch trials over the following centuries. Persecution in Europe runs on into the eighteenth century.
• 1735: Britain passes the Witchcraft Act, moving witchcraft from a religious offence to a form of fraud — what is punished is pretending to work magic for money, not working magic.
• 1951: Britain passes the Fraudulent Mediums Act, formally repealing the Witchcraft Act of 1735 (the text survives in the UK legislation database).
• 1954: Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant, publishes Witchcraft Today, and Wicca enters public view. English Wikipedia describes Wicca as a modern pagan movement that emerged publicly in England in the 1950s and is the largest of its kind today.

One straight line: from “a crime deserving death” to “something you can publish, run a magazine about, and turn into a hit film” took a little over 460 years.

Why it returns every few decades

I tried to find the common threads, and all of them look familiar today:

• Anxious years are more fertile. People need a mouth for “things that happen without explanation”, and the occult is the handiest one.
• A resource bank of the female view. From Practical Magic to later witch stories, the leads are usually women; those executed in the witch trials were mostly women too. The genre carries that history with it.
• Low threshold, strong ritual. A tarot deck and a candle are enough to begin, which is easier to keep private than any religion.

So this wave, like every wave before it, is less a sign that “people have become more superstitious” than that a generation wants a form it can handle for its own uncertainty. The form does not matter; being able to act does.

If the film left you wanting a “form you can handle” for yourself, write something concrete on 占卜迷指 — not “will this year go well for me”, but why you could not sleep last night — take the corresponding chart and reading through the real flow, and export it to keep. The tool is only a tool; what is worth reading is the few lines you wrote yourself.

Disclaimer: This article covers traditional culture and folklore and is intended for entertainment and self-reflection only. It is not medical, psychological, investment, legal or marriage advice. Do not submit ID numbers, detailed addresses or other sensitive personal information. If you experience persistent insomnia, anxiety or physical discomfort, please see a doctor or a qualified professional.

Sources

• Deadline, “Box Office: ‘Practical Magic 2’ Opening To $30M” (September 2026): https://deadline.com/2026/09/box-office-practical-magic-2-weekend-1237098516/
• Deadline, “‘Practical Magic 2’ Opens to $46M Global Box Office”: https://deadline.com/2026/09/box-office-practical-magic-2-global-1237100627/
• The Hollywood Reporter, “Practical Magic 2 Opens No. 1 at Box Office, Ending Spider-Man Streak”: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/practical-magic-2-box-office-spider-man-domestic-record-1236698853/
• Variety, “‘Practical Magic 2’ Box Office: Sequel Fizzles With $28 Million Debut”: https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/practical-magic-2-box-office-opening-weekend-disappointment-1236860432/
• Chinese Wikipedia, “超异能快感” (the 1998 first film, adapted from Alice Hoffman’s novel; the sequel’s Chinese title follows the same pattern): https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B6%85%E7%95%B0%E8%83%BD%E5%BF%AB%E6%84%9F
• Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951 (repealing the Witchcraft Act 1735): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1951/33
• English Wikipedia, “Wicca” (modern pagan movement emerging publicly in England in the 1950s): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca