From ‘Heathers’ to ‘Practical Magic 2,’ Denise Di Novi Keeps Her Filmmaking Personal — SkimNews
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- Denise Di Novi launched her solo producing career with "Heathers" in 1989 after New World Pictures gave her a $2 million budget on the condition she cast Winona Ryder, a gamble that "catapulted" her into studio work.
- Di Novi partnered with Tim Burton after a single lunch at the Sunset Marquis facilitated by Ryder, leading to producing credits on "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman Returns," and "Ed Wood."
- Di Novi produced and directed "Unforgettable" (2017) starring Rosario Dawson and Katherine Heigl after a director dropped out, a thriller she calls one of the great unsung suspense films of the 2010s that counted Steven Spielberg among its fans.
- "Practical Magic 2" reunited Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman after years of red-carpet fan demand, with author Alice Hoffman solving the creative problem by writing a sequel novel Di Novi loved.
- Di Novi credits Warner Bros. chief Pam Abdy with internally championing the "Practical Magic 2" sequel after years of it being "a pipe dream," saying Abdy "educated everybody at Warners and fought to get the movie made."
- Di Novi's "Catwoman" was "decimated beyond belief" at release but has since been embraced by Gen Z through streaming and TikTok, a vindication she now cites as evidence that movies "live forever."
- Di Novi served as an uncredited troubleshooter on "Mad Max: Fury Road" during a period when Warner Bros. placed her on five or six troubled productions, an experience Charlize Theron later wrote about in her book.
Why it matters: Di Novi's career arc demonstrates how a producer willing to take personal taste risks can outlast the corporate ebb and flow of studio Hollywood, with two of her most publicly maligned films — "Practical Magic" and "Catwoman" — ultimately vindicated by patient fan communities. Her account of needing a studio executive (Pam Abdy) to internally champion a sequel underscores how much greenlight decisions still hinge on individual champions inside Warner Bros., not just audience metrics.
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