Disney+ has announced plans for a sequel to 1993’s spoopy Halloween hit “Hocus Pocus,” with Adam Shankman (“Hairspray“) on board to direct. This of course was cause for GREAT excitement for fans of the feature film.
Since then, we haven’t really heard anything new about it, other than Jen D’Angelo (“Workaholics” writer and co-producer) penning the script.
The story will reportedly follow the witches as they try to acclimate to the 20th Century.They then discover — to their horror — that Halloween has become a holiday.
The question arose about the possibility of the original cast returning, namely the three Sanderson Sisters played by Bette Middler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker. (We already knew that national treasure Doug Jones said he’d return as Billy Butcherson if asked.)
Middler, who played Winnifred Sanderson in the film, seemed pretty excited about the notion of reviving her book-touting witch character when she spoke to Entertainment Tonight:
“Oh my goodness me. Oh I hope they get to me before I’m a corpse. We wanna fly again. I hope Disney+ is a big success and I hope we get to do it, because [Winifred Sanderson] is, of course, one of my favorite characters. I mean she’s, in the zeitgeist. I have met people - I’ve met grownup people, like 40-year-olds, 50-year-olds - who say, ‘Oh I remember that! Hocus Pocus! I was brought up on that.’ It’s so mortifying ’cause I still look 35.”
Sarah Jessica Parker, who played Sarah Sanderson, recently commented to RadioAndy:
“I think that is something that Bette, Kathy, and I are very hospitable to the idea and I think for a long time people had been talking about it as if people were moving forward with it in a real way but we were unaware of it. I think now we have gotten to the point where we all have agreed publicly to the right people that ‘Yes, that would be a very, very fun idea.’ So we’ll see what the future holds.”
There was also that very telling Halloween 2019 Instagram post of hers.
Kathy Najimy, who played Mary Sanderson, seemed more practical about the notion, but excited nonetheless.
“I heard about it online the same time as [everyone else]. But here’s the honest answer: Sarah and Bette and I all have a million projects and things that we’re into, so I don’t know if they’re gonna offer us [roles]. I don’t know if the worlds are going to collide so that we could all three do it at the same time. But I’m happy that it’s happening, because the fans are really rabid and they really want it,” she added with a smile. “[And] if we’re not all available to star in it, I think it would be so great to do a cameo. I think that’d be really fun.”
What do you think, are you on the broom for this “Hocus Pocus” sequel from Disney+, or should the House of Mouse leave the sisters to their black candle sleep?
