The horror community has been buzzing lately when it pertains to the Scream franchise. It was announced earlier this year that Neve Campbell would be returning for the seventh installment. We're just over a year away from Scream 7’s February 2026 release date and the last couple of weeks have been flooded with casting updates. However, even though the Scream franchise is what Campbell is most known for, the Wes Craven-directed original wasn't the only popular horror film the actress starred in that year. In 1996, the other would be The Craft. Now, if you're looking to fill the Ghostface void in the new year, The Craft will be cursing Max in January.
It has been revealed that the Andrew Fleming film will debut on the streamer Wednesday, January 1st, 2025. While the film has a slightly negative 57% review score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film managed to gross just under $25 million at the domestic box office, making it a modest hit with a smaller $15 million budget. The Craft was released seven months before Scream in the spring of 1996. At the time, Campbell's name hadn't exploded yet. This magical nightmare also starred another Scream alum in Skeet Ulrich. If this had come out after Ghostface’s cinematic debut, it's anyone's guess how much better The Craft would have done financially.
What's ‘The Craft’ About?
The Craft follows a new high school student named Sarah (Robin Tunney) who supposedly has telekinetic abilities. That draws her to a group of wannabe witches, Bonnie (Campbell), Rochelle (Rachel True) and Nancy (Fairuza Balk), who just so happen to need a fourth person for the coven. However, when their rituals cause the group to get power hungry and eventually turn on one another, high school isn't the only thing that's going to be tough to survive. While The Craft starts off as your typical 80s/90s coming-of-age story with a horror twist, it quickly takes a dark turn thanks to some standout performances from Campbell and Balk. The more traumatic backdrop and themes may have caused The Craft to not be a universal genre champion like Scream, but in the past three decades, the film has grown a sizable cult-following. That led to it getting a sequel, The Craft: Legacy, in 2020. This starred a then unknown Cailee Spaeny (Alien: Romulus).
Before The Craft casts its sinister spell on you on January 1, the trailer for the film can be viewed below. In addition to this horror gem coming to Max, The Craft: Legacy is currently streaming on Philo.
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The Craft is a 1996 teen horror movie starring Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, Fairuza Balk, and Rachel True. The Andrew Fleming-directed film focuses on a group of outcasts at an LA high school who practice witchcraft and create their own coven. The film received mixed reviews but was a surprise hit at the box office for Columbia.
Release Date May 3, 1996
Director Andrew Fleming
Runtime 101 Minutes
Writers Andrew Fleming , Peter Filardi
Budget $15 Million
Studio(s) Columbia Pictures
Distributor(s) Columbia Pictures
Sequel(s) The Craft: Legacy
English (US) ·