Halloween fans rejoice: Hocus Pocus 2 is finally happening!
Okay, you’ll need a Disney+ account to be able to watch it, but after almost three decades of waiting I think it’s worth splashing out on a subscription to watch the sequel of the iconic film.
The original Hocus Pocus was released all the way back in 1993, and although it wasn’t a box office smash, it went on to become one of the best-loved Halloween films out there.
It stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as Winifred, Sarah and Mary respectively, three witch sisters who are accidentally resurrected by a boy whose family has moved from Los Angeles to Salem, where the siblings were cursed back in 1693.
As the three sisters try to get to grips with the 20th Century, they are horrified to discover Halloween has become the modern holiday we all know and love.
Fans have been begging Disney for a Hocus Pocus sequel for years, and now the company is finally going to oblige by releasing the follow-up on its new streaming service.
Disney set things in motion late last year by hiring Workaholics writer and co-producer Jen D’Angelo to pen the script for Hocus Pocus 2, and now the sequel is officially confirmed, with Adam Shankman coming on board to direct.
Shankman is best known for directing 2007’s Hairspray, as well as Step Up and A Walk to Remember. He’s currently in pre-production for another of Disney’s creations, the Enchanted sequel Disenchanted, but it’s yet to be determined which film will come first.
The director took to Instagram to confirm his involvement with both Disenchanted and Hocus Pocus 2, writing:
Yep…. Thanks with all of my heart dear @disney
Looks like Il [sic] be working on a looooooottttt of magic for awhile… I feel incredibly honored and humbled to be guiding forward these two Disney crown jewel legacies.
My only hope is to honor those who came before me and build something new and exciting, as I desperately try to not let down the fans and enchant the new initiates!
Fingers crossed!
The original cast members are not yet attached to the sequel, but Disney is reportedly hopeful they will be involved in some capacity. Sources told Variety the ideal situation would be to have Midler, Parker and Najimy reprise their roles, rather than having to completely reboot, and I’m sure fans would agree.
Midler expressed her interest in a sequel during a Reddit AMA in 2014, where she told users she’d ‘canvassed the girls’ and ‘[was] willing to do it’. Parker expressed her own excitement at the idea in 2016, when she appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and said she would ‘love’ to reprise her role in the Halloween flick.
We’ll have to wait and see who Disney gets in to star in the sequel, but at least fans can officially start to get excited about its arrival!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.