Griffin Dunne loved Practical Magic's renaissance

Griffin Dunne was heartened to witness the renaissance of Practical Magic.

The 71-year-old director helmed the original Practical Magic movie in 1998, which was widely panned at the time - but he was thrilled that the story was revived earlier this year and by the fan enthusiasm for Practical Magic 2.

Griffin - who worked with Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest, Stockard Channing, and Aidan Quinn on the original Practical Magic movie - told Variety: "I don’t know when it could have started. Maybe 10 years ago, the conversation about Practical Magic started to pick up more steam, particularly around Halloween. I’d see memes with ‘midnight margaritas’ and when my friends’ daughters found out I directed that movie, they’d go insane."

Sandra and Nicole revived their characters earlier this year to star in Practical Magic 2.

Griffin explained that it reminded him of his experience with An American Werewolf in London, the 1981 comedy-horror film written and directed by John Landis.

Griffin - who acted in the film - said: "It’s the second movie I’ve been involved with that wasn’t as popular at the time as it became years later. It was the same deal with An American Werewolf in London. It’s lovely to see people appreciate it now, but it would have been sweeter to have it happen then too. I seem to be the king of lapsed love!"

Meanwhile, Sandra Bullock previously admitted that she thought she'd "done something wrong" after starring in Practical Magic.

The 62-year-old actress recalled the movie being "absolutely eviscerated" in the weeks after its release.

Speaking to Jennifer Aniston for Interview magazine, Sandra shared: "When we made the first film, we were absolutely eviscerated. If you look at the reviews, they were scathing. 'How many women do you need in a film? How many emotions need to be in a film?'

"I had a decent amount of shame because I thought I’d done something wrong. You just go, 'Okay, okay, okay. I won’t do that again.' And then it just took off."

Sandra credits social media for the movie eventually becoming a cult classic.

The Hollywood star explained: "Everyone was able to communicate why they loved it.

"Mothers watched it with their daughters and daughters grew up and watched it with their daughters. It was a total surprise."

Practical Magic was based on the 1995 novel by Alice Hoffman, and Sandra jumped at the chance to make a follow-up film.

The actress said: "I was in New York, sitting in that little sunroom thingy off the kitchen, and I literally thought to myself, 'How great would it be to do another one?'

"I reached out to Denise Di Novi, my producing partner, and said, 'You know what? The only way it could work is if these things were addressed with the daughters and we could talk about what’s happening in the world.' And she went, 'Sandy, that’s exactly what’s in the second book.' And I was like, 'There’s a second book?'"