6 things to know about the 'Hocus Pocus' sequel
Erin McDowell
- "Hocus Pocus" premiered on July 16, 1993.
- Last year, Disney confirmed that a sequel to the Halloween favorite was in the works.
- Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy will reprise their roles as the Sanderson sisters.
Disney confirmed that the "Hocus Pocus" sequel was in the works in December 2020.
"Coming exclusively to @DisneyPlus is Hocus Pocus 2, the spooky sequel to the 1993 Halloween classic," Disney tweeted on December 10.
The original movie, which was released in 1993, takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, and follows the three Sanderson witches. On Halloween night, the three sisters are brought back to life by a local teenager who has just moved to town.
The witches attempt to become immortal by using magic on the town's children and local townspeople, but they are thwarted by the teen, his younger sister, his classmate-turned-love-interest, and a talking cat who fell victim to the Sanderson's evil magic hundreds of years ago.
All three of the original actresses who played the Sanderson sisters will reprise their roles.
After Disney officially announced the sequel would be coming, Sarah Jessica Parker confirmed on Instagram that she and fellow stars Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy would be reprising their roles as the Sanderson sisters.
In the original movie, Parker played the childlike and ditzy sister Sarah Sanderson, Midler played the leader of the coven Winifred Sanderson, and Najimy played Winifred's right-hand witch Mary Sanderson.
The sequel will reportedly be released in the fall of 2022.
"Sistaaaahs! It's been 300 years... But we're BACK! #HocusPocus2 arrives Fall 2022 on @DisneyPlus," Bette Midler tweeted in May 2021.
"Hocus Pocus 2" was previously set to be directed by Adam Shankman but is now in the hands of "27 Dresses" director Anne Fletcher.
Shankman is best known for directing the 2007 movie adaptation of "Hairspray," "A Walk to Remember," and the upcoming sequel to "Enchanted," titled "Disenchanted."
In May 2020, Shankman announced he would no longer be a part of the project, citing scheduling conflicts.
"As heartbroken as I am that I won't be able to direct my friends Bette, Sarah Jessica and Kathy in what is sure to be nothing short of a major event for Disney+ due to scheduling conflicts, I couldn't be more pleased to be handing over the reins to Anne [Fletcher], who has brought so much laughter and joy into people's lives with her previous work," Shankman said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Fletcher told Digital Spy she was "so grateful" to be part of the movie.
"Now more than ever, people need to laugh. We should be laughing every day, and there is so much fun to be had with these three unbelievable women playing delicious characters from such a beloved film," she said in the statement.
Very little is known about the plot of the film, but we do know how the Sanderson witches make their return to the mortal world.
The film's synopsis on IMDb reads: "Three young women accidentally bring the Sanderson Sisters back to modern-day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on the world."
The movie's stars were immediately onboard with the new plot, Midler said.
"They presented us with an outline, and after we picked ourselves up off the floor, because it's been 27 years, we looked at it and I think all of us agreed that it was pretty great," she told People in October 2020.
Filming is reportedly set to begin this fall in New England.
According to Elle, the cast of "Hocus Pocus 2" will begin filming this fall. Production will likely begin after Sarah Jessica Parker wraps on filming the highly anticipated "Sex and the City" reboot, "And Just Like That...", which is set to be released this December.
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