The 1993 family cult classic Hocus Pocus had a resurgence at the box office this year. We’ve heard rumors for years that there would be a remake or sequel. At one point it was rumored that they would not invite the original Sanderson sisters to reprise their roles. However, Disney+ has acquired the rights to do the sequel. Bette Midler just revealed that the original Sanderson sisters have been asked to return. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy and Midler have all agreed to sign on. People has the details:
In a recent interview with FOX 5, Midler, 74, confirmed that she, Parker, 55, and Najimy, 63, have all agreed to star in the highly anticipated sequel.
“They want to make a movie, they’ve asked us if we were interested and of course all of us said yes,” said Midler. “I’m game, I’m totally game.”
Midler had previously expressed her desire to be involved in the sequel, telling Entertainment Tonight this month that she would “absolutely” be up for reprising her iconic role as Winifred Sanderson in the follow-up film, adding, “I can’t wait to fly!”
Earlier this year, Variety reported that Adam Shankman was chosen to direct Hocus Pocus 2 for Disney+. The director has previously led movies like 2007’s Hairspray, and the Step Up franchise.
“We wanna fly again,” she added. “I hope Disney+ is a big success and I hope we get to do it, because [Winifred] is of course one of my favorite characters … I can’t wait to read the script. We’re gonna see what happens.”
Hocus Pocus and The Craft are my go to Halloween movies and if I need something scary I watch Halloween H2O. I am here for a sequel of the original Hocus Pocus despite it being 27 years later. Hopefully, it will actually materialize by next year since Disney+ has not announced when they plan to film and release Hocus Pocus 2.
To be fair, I just want to see Najimy and Midler again. I love those two women as witches. I also wonder if they will bring the children back as adults. Like will the storyline be? Anyhow, I need Disney+ to get on the ASAP before these ladies change their minds.
In the mean time as I patiently await the Hocus Pocus sequel, I’m gonna prepare to watch original movie Saturday night with several other Halloween classics.
photos credit: Avalon.red and WENN
The original is playing in local movie theaters.
I hope I have Ms Midler’s energy in my 70s!
Forgot to mention: I was recently researching QAnon (after a friend went right over the edge into crazy town) and this is one of the movies they list as an example of Hollywood “normalising” child abuse. (Because the witches kill the kids.) So it actually slightly surprised me that this is getting made now, seeing as there might be a backlash amongst the crazies.
Disney has been such a massive hit and miss with sequels and comebacks. The Mandalorian is fantastic, but by god was the new Star Wars trilogy a dumpster fire. Hope they do the original justice.
I can’t believe I finally watched that movie for the 1st time this past weekend, even though I was a part of the age group when it cam out back in 1993.
I do hope the sequel has Winifred Sanderson’s saying her famous line…”use thy voice, Sarah! Fill the sky, bring the little brats to die, hahaha”!
I’m going to get flack and so be it, but I watched it last year for the first time in a decade and it did not hold up. Some really problematic themes and writing that is blurred when you’re wearing your nostalgia glasses. I know, I know, I loved it as a kid, but I had a lot of “Oh, No…” moments especially when it came to some of the little girls dialogue
Yabbos?
It is amazing what doesn’t hold up – I was re-watching the West Wing and there was an episode where President Barlett calls a white house council a republican sex kitten to her face…. so yeah, no flack from me.
Those comments towards Ainsley were problematic at the time, which is why in one episode she goes on a rant about how she is okay with it (which is also problematic, because she says it makes her feel like part of the group, which implies that someone who is NOT okay with it is not part of the group?) but clearly there was some pushback at the time about how Ainsley’s character was treated.
oh there are definitely some parts that don’t hold up. But I kind of figure that’s par for the course with almost any older movie or TV show.
Yabbos… no thank you. On the subject of things that do and don’t hold up: Police Academy DEFINITELY does not hold up, but the Naked Gun surprisingly does for the most part. Money Pit holds up and I watched Blackbeard’s Ghost on D+ last night from 1968 and it was a goddamned delight!
The yabbos part is just stupid. Who said that back then, lol.
I haven’t seen Police Academy in years but I can definitely believe it doesn’t hold up. We watch Clue a few times a year (I love it) but so much of that movie is just kind of….yeesh…now.
I didn’t really pay attention to West Wing during its original run, so I didn’t know that. I had recently read Rob Lowe’s autobiography which is amazing, so I decided to give it a look. Clearly being pressured to go along with harassment to be part of the group is horrible.
Some parts of Hocus Pocus definitely don’t hold up. However (and I know I need to get a life for evaluating Hocus Pocus through a women’s study lens) I really liked what they did with Alison’s character. They could have made her some hot girl in the background who just existed so that Max “got the girl” in the end but she actually ended up being a smart, confident, and capable supporting character who held her own against the witches. I love when Winnie called her a “clever little white witch” after Alison uses the salt. And she even developed a sweet little relationship with Dani. I only remember this because I literally just watched this movie last night, LOL.
…Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
YAY I’m so excited! I love the first one so much. I cant tell how much is because its a good movie or how much is pure nostalgia, lol.
Bette Midler is 74??
I never saw this as a kid and I feel like I missed the boat on it. I’ve tried to watch it more than once and really can’t get into it.
Second me for not quite getting the appeal of this movie. I didn’t grow up with cable and while it’s possible it aired on ABC, it mostly aired on Disney Channel/ABC Family. While I was certainly aware of it, I didn’t really watch it until I was much older and even then, every year I never watched the whole thing in one sitting. I can now say I’ve watched the whole thing having watched random chunks over the years and I understand its corny, silly appeal but I just get bored trying to watch the whole thing. I will say though I’ve always loved the costumes the three witches wear.
I recently watched Halloweentown for the first time during a virtual viewing party and I think I prefer that to Hocus Pocus lol.
I DID grow up watching Halloweentown and love that movie!
I have never seen Halloweentown! I’ll have to find it.
I also grew up watching Bride of Boogedy a LOT (I don’t remember watching the actual Boogedy movie, just the Bride of Boogedy) and we tried to watch that last week and it was so bad LOL.
There’s actually a book sequel that just came out the last few years, not sure if they’ll use that or not. I believe it focuses on Max and Allison’s kid.
Don’t sleep on SJP in Hocus Pocus. SJP may suck but I love that daffy, horny Sarah Sanderson!!!
All three of them are great in this movie! It is untouchable, which gives me some pause about a sequel, but I’ll probably still watch it anyway