Cue the sounds of excited cackling because the Sanderson sisters are finally coming back to our screens in the long-awaited Hocus Pocus sequel and it promises to have been worth the wait.
Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy will return to their roles, following the steadily increasing popularity of the 1993 film. According to the movie’s official logline, logline: “In Hocus Pocus 2, 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.”
Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, Belissa Escobedo, Tony Hale, Hannah Waddingham, Juju Brener, Froy Guiterrez, Taylor Henderson, and Nina Kitchen have also joined the cast.
The follow-up will be directed by Anne Fletcher — the helmer who brought us The Proposal — who said in a press statement, “Now more than ever, people need to laugh. We should be laughing every day, and there’s so much fun to be had with these three unbelievable women playing delicious characters from such a beloved film.
“I am so grateful to be able to play a part in bringing these witches back to life, and to be working with my friends at Disney again makes it all the more special. This is a movie for everyone, from the fans who grew up with the first film to the next generation of viewers, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Midler, who plays Winnie Sanderson, seemed particularly excited at the prospect of reuniting with her on-screen sisters, taking to social media to share a post that said, “Sistaaaahs! It’s been 300 years… But we’re BACK!”, while Mary aka Najimy wrote, “The people have spoken: I smell children…again.”
And Sarah Jessica Parker, who is currently working on the Sex and the City reboot, shared her glee at returning to the character of Sarah Sanderson, writing “Yep. I’m ready. To run. Amok, amok, amok, amok.”
Disney first revealed plans for a sequel in 2019, but confirmation that it would be going ahead was not received until now. It is expected that production will commence later in 2021 with Hocus Pocus 2 set to land on Disney Plus sometime in 2022.
And never fear, because although filmmaker Adam Shankman won’t be directing the follow-up after all he’ll still be serving as the movie’s executive producer.
“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 Plus due to scheduling conflicts, I couldn’t be more pleased to be handing over the reins to Anne, who has brought so much laughter and joy into people’s lives with her previous work,” Shankman said.
The original film saw Midler, Parker and Najimy as a trio of witch sisters who have been cursed since 1693. 300 years later, they are resurrected by a young boy who has relocated to Salem, discovering — to their horror — that Halloween has become a holiday.
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