Bewitched: Astonishing Facts Revealed About The Cast and Crew

The movie’s creators might have been better off making a movie about Samantha herself, a character that fans already know and love. Instead, the movie centered on a young woman named Isabel Bigelow (played by Nicole Kidman) who moves to Los Angeles and finds herself starring in a remake of the beloved sitcom. Starring as her on-screen husband Darrin is Will Ferrell’s character, Jack Wyatt. Unbeknownst to the cast and crew of the remade television series, Isabel is actually a real-life witch. She gets into the typical mishaps and scrapes that Samantha would on the show, but the movie didn’t have any of the original series’ charms.

Critics failed to respond well to the movie and viewers seemed to agree. The popular film critiquing website, Rotten Tomatoes, gave it 75 percent negative reviews based on a total of 185 reviews. About the film, the website says, “Bewitched is haunted by scattered laughs and a lack of direction.” The film had a budget of $85 million but did not gross much more worldwide. It earned $63,313,159 in the United states and just $68,100,000 worldwide for a total worldwide gross of $131,413,159. It was quite a disappointment, especially as the film was anticipated to be successful due to its built-in fan base.

The film adaptation was nominated for many Golden Raspberry Awards, a spoof of the Oscar ceremony which, instead of nominating cast and crew for their notable achievements, instead honors the worst performances in films from the previous year. The film earned several nominations for less than flattering categories, including Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Remake or Sequel, and Worst Actor (for Will Ferrell’s performance as both Jack Wyatt and Darrin. Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman were the only members of the cast and crew to actually win in their category, earning a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple. Ouch.

It seems that Samantha is a far too iconic role to go to just anybody. Despite the universal appeal of the show, a remake didn’t work simply because everyone thinks of Elizabeth Montgomery when they think of Bewitched. The iconic star is so beloved that watching any sort of adaptation without her in it is just…weird. Many people fell in love with Elizabeth Montgomery during the show’s run, but a lot of them did not realize just how extraordinary of a woman she was. Far from being just a pretty face and a talented actress, Elizabeth Montgomery was also a political activist.

You already know that Elizabeth Montgomery was a strong supporter of women’s rights and even appeared without a bra towards the end of the show in support of the women’s liberation movement. But she was also one of the first celebrities to support gay rights and to advocate on behalf of victims suffering from AIDS. Elizabeth Montgomery spent much of her time volunteering with the AIDS Project Los Angeles as well as amfAR. Her support was very valuable to the movement and came at a critical time, at the height of the AIDS epidemic when much about the illness was not yet understood.