Sam Raimi Set to Remake Anthony Hopkins Horror Film Magic for Lionsgate

Filmmaker Sam Raimi attends the red carpet premiere event for the movie Send Help. Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Long before Anthony Hopkins terrified audiences as Hannibal Lecter, the Oscar winner delivered one of his most unsettling performances in Magic, the 1978 psychological horror film centered around a troubled ventriloquist and his increasingly disturbing dummy. Now, filmmaker Sam Raimi is bringing the story back to the screen for Lionsgate with a modern adaptation of William Goldman's novel.

According to multiple trade reports, Raimi will direct the new version of Magic from a screenplay written by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, reuniting the writers with Raimi and producer Zainab Azizi following their recent collaboration on Send Help for 20th Century Studios.

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Magic is based on Goldman's 1976 novel of the same name. Already known for Academy Award-winning screenplays including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men, Goldman adapted his own novel for the original 1978 film directed by Richard Attenborough.

The original story follows Corky, a struggling entertainer whose ventriloquist dummy, Fats, becomes tied to his deteriorating mental state. Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) trained in ventriloquism for the role and also provided the voice for the foul-mouthed dummy, helping turn Fats into one of the more memorable psychological horror figures of the era.

While Lionsgate has not revealed plot details for the new adaptation, Raimi's background in horror makes the project a notable match. Raimi first gained attention through the Evil Dead franchise before moving into studio filmmaking with movies including Spider-Man and Drag Me to Hell.

Across much of his horror work, Raimi's visual style often places viewers directly inside chaotic or fractured states of mind, an approach that could fit naturally with the psychological tension at the center of Magic.

No release date or casting information has been announced.

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