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'Bewitched' film to wrinkle its nose on the big screen from creators of 12 Monkeys TV series
Sony Pictures is hopping aboard the ol' broomstick with a new film project inspired by '60s-era TV show, Bewitched. Per Deadline, the movie is being written by 12 Monkeys and MacGyver co-showrunners, Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett. John Davis and John Fox are attached as producers. Sony has yet to announce a director or cast.
Created by Sol Saks, Bewitched starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens, a witch living in suburbia with her mortal husband, Darrin (Dick York played him for the first five seasons before he was recast with Dick Sargent). Montgomery's character became iconic for the way in which she'd wrinkle her nose before activating a spell.
Samantha's family wasn't too happy about her marriage to a normal man and always popped up to interfere in their lives via all sorts of magical mayhem. Darrin, who didn't know his wife's true identity until after the wedding, wants to live a normal life, but usually finds himself at the mercy of his haughty mother-in-law, Endora (Agnes Moorehead).
Marvel Studios directly paid homage to the retro sitcom in its second episode of WandaVision on Disney+. One could wonder if Sony is hoping to capitalize on the renewed popularity and cultural cache in the classic series, which ran on ABC for a total of eight seasons between 1964 and 1972.
Indeed, the name of Kathryn Hahn's central WandaVision villain, Agnes (real name: Agatha Harkness), was most likely an homage to Moorehead. Agnes's role is that of the nosy neighbor — a trope made famous by Bewitched's Gladys Kravitz, the Stephens' own neighbor who can never convince her husband Abner that they live next to a magic-user.
Sony previously tried to bring the property to the big screen back in 2005 with a meta take starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. The film (directed and co-written by the late Nora Ephron) was a critical and financial disappointment, despite a talented cast that also featured Michael Caine, Shirley MacLaine, Jason Schwartzman, and Kristin Chenoweth.
