With the help of co-writer Phil Graziadei, director Leigh Janiak will take on her newest film project with a fresh adaptation of a favorited supernatural teen thriller. The '90s cult classic following four Catholic schoolgirls on a witchcraft journey, The Craft, will see female-centered empowerment.
Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True portrayed the dark and mysterious Nancy, Bonnie and Rochelle, three highschool girls dabbling in witchcraft. They found their fourth counterpart in Sarah, opening the doors to use their newfound, unstoppable powers for personal gain and to seek retribution from their enemies, which ultimately goes awry. As their powers strengthened, beaches became swept with a sea of dead sharks and high-school bullies were left balding in the showers while the foursome flourished and ran wild.
Andrew Fleming, who will now be superseded by Janiak, originally directed the 1996 film. Graziadei and Janiak saw their first collaboration with an eerie 2014 film starring Rose Leslie and Harry Treadway, titled Honeymoon.
Aside from Honeymoon, Janiak assisted and worked for producer Kevin Mischer as well as directed an episode of the anticipated MTV adaptation of Scream, notes The Hollywood Reporter. Janiak impressed executives as Sony with her interpretation of The Craft concerning female liberation. Janiak steps up just in time to act as a resilient female force in the movie industry after disapproval from the American Civil Liberties Union regarding "systemic failure to hire women directors at all levels of the film and television industry," notes Rolling Stone.
"Aside from being a little more cognizant of the production things that everyone warns you about, you're just like, 'It's going to be fine' - like night shoots and water - I just think knowing that you have to be confident in your vision," Janiak explained to Under the Radar while discussing the film and how she'll apply what she absorbed into future projects. "When you're in production and shooting, knowing that is your chance. There aren't re-shoots on an indie movie, so you have got to get what you know you need to get, and not move on until you know that you're ready."
