EXCLUSIVE : Sam Raimi has been set by Lionsgate to direct Magic , a modern adaptation of the William Goldman novel that was first turned into the 1978 film that Richard Attenborough directed and Anthony Hopkins starred in. He played a ventriloquist who finds himself controlled by his malicious puppet at a time when he has a chance to find happiness with a rekindled romance. Hopkins turned in a tour de force creepy performance that presaged his Oscar-winning work in The Silence of the Lambs years later.

Raimi, creator of the Evil Dead franchise and director of the landmark 2000s Spider-Man trilogy, already was aboard to produce the project alongside Roy Lee, producer of It and Weapons . Chris Hammond and Tim Sullivan, who long have championed the project will produce alongside Raimi and Lee. Raimi Productions’ Zainab Azizi will also produce.…