Magic—the 1978 film starring Anthony Hopkins as a mentally unstable magician/ventriloquist named Corky whose dummy, playfully called Fats, murders people—is getting a remake. Horror legend Sam Raimi (the guy behind the The Evil Dead franchise and cocreator of Xena: Warrior Princess) and Roy Lee (the producer of recent horror hit, Weapons) are behind the revival. There’s already a script, penned by Freddy v. Jason and 2009’s Friday the 13th writers Mark Swift and Damian Shannon.
I haven’t seen the original film, but based on what I’ve gleaned from the internet, it looks a little nutty. No demons or puppet possessions appear to be part of the story: Corky and Fats are one in the same, with Corky acting on his unregulated impulses via Fats. Those impulses include murdering Corky’s high school crush, whom he reconnects with after he leaves the big city for the Catskills after a mental breakdown. There are other casualties as well, but I’ll leave you with the copy on a poster for the original film to give you a sense of the vibe: “Abracadabra, I sit on his knee. Presto chango, and now he is me. Hocus pocus, we take her to bed. Magic is fun; we’re dead.”
No news yet on who will take on Hopkins’ part or, indeed, the role of Fats.