No two ways about it: Hocus Pocus is a bonafide Halloween staple — and rightly so.
"Pull over — let me see your driver's permit!
Ha ha!"
Lots of people adore the 1993 cult classic, even though the campy humor doesn't appeal
to everyone.
In fact, the film currently holds a 33 percent Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes… but
there's no accounting for taste.
That said, this freaky fantasia still winds up getting plenty of air time each October.
All these years after its premiere, Hocus Pocus is still casting its spell on audiences,
and fans have been clamoring for a sequel for quite a while now.
Honestly, we'll take our Hocus Pocus fix however we can get it … and there's plenty to suggest
that there's some fresh new witchiness a-brewing.
In 2017, Deadline reported that
"Disney Channel is in early stages of development on a Hocus Pocus TV movie, a reimagining of
the 1993 cult classic Walt Disney feature."
But hold the phone.
Details have been disappointingly scarce since then, and the film's director has yet to be
announced.
According to Deadline, Kenny Ortega, the director of the original Hocus Pocus, won't be returning
to the franchise.
Of course, this begs the question: Will Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy
reprise their iconically icky roles as the Sanderson sisters?
Well, in a 2014 Reddit AMA, Midler advised her fans,
"Inundate the Disney company, because I have canvassed the girls and they are willing to
do it, but we have no say in it, so if you want a HOCUS POCUS 2, ask the Walt Disney
company."
Then, she jokingly tweeted in 2015,
"Breaking news!!
SEQUEL DELAYED!! Disney [is] having trouble finding a virgin!"
Later that year, Midler was asked by a fan on Facebook whether Hocus Pocus 2 might happen,
and she replied:
"After all these years and all the fan demand, I do believe I can stand and firmly say an
unequivocal no."
And then in 2017, she was really quite disparaging about the planned Disney movie, telling People:
"I know it’s cheap.
It’s going to be cheap!"
So… not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Elsewhere, she told the publication that,
"I’m not sure what they’re going to do with my character.
My character is very, very broad and I don’t know who they’re going to find to play that.”
And then People magazine really stuck the knife in, telling presumably devastated fans,
"When asked if she would return for the right dollar amount, [Midler] quickly replied: “No,
no, no!”"
Okay, so it sounds like Midler is out, but there's still hope for the two other Sanderson
sisters.
In 2015, Buzzfeed asked Sarah Jessica Parker if she'd be down for a sequel, and she replied:
"Yeah, I said I would!
And I got in so much trouble on Twitter for it."
In 2017, the website revealed that,
"Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker both told BuzzFeed News they would absolutely return
for a sequel."
In the same article, Najimy told Buzzfeed:
"The outpouring of love from Hocus-ites has been astounding.
[...] We see and appreciate it all.
When a film is being shot, you never quite know the impact..
If it'll be a hit or a miss, and..with this one ... we hear y'all loud and clear."
And here's some more potentially good news: In October 2019, five cast members of the
original Hocus Pocus — Vinessa Shaw, Larry Bagby, Omri Katz, Tobias Jelinek,
and Doug Jones — were featured in an Instagram post on Shaw's official page, with a caption
that read:
"Oh [Crystal Ball], will there be a #2?...‘Tis time!"
And in September, speculation swirled after Shaw posted an Instagram video in which she's
proudly wearing a cloak, alongside the cryptic caption:
"Something wicked this way comes..."
Fans understandably went nuts, with one Hocus Pocus aficionado writing,
"Please please let it be Hocus Pocus 2 based off of Hocus Pocus and the All New Sequel
book.
I loved loved loved the book.
Would love to see this adapted in film"
Of course, all of this could be so much hocus pocus and hot air, as Deadline reported in
2017 that
"The new Hocus Pocus iteration will have a new cast."
That announcement certainly didn't sit well with Ortega, who told Entertainment Tonight:
"I think it would be much more fun to bring the ladies back.
They're all still vital and in their prime and capable of doing so much."
He went on to say:
"I don't think you have to recreate the magic.
I think you start all over and make new magic."
Right now, we really don't know what the plot will be for this new version of Hocus Pocus.
It's possible that the film will indeed be based on the 2018 book Hocus Pocus & The All-New
Sequel.
That story takes place 25 years after the events of Hocus Pocus, and Max and Allison
now have a 17-year-old daughter named Poppy.
Soon, she's having her own problems with the Sanderson sisters.
According to the plot synopsis:
"When Halloween celebrations don't quite go as planned, it's a race against time as Poppy
and her friends fight to save her family and all of Salem from the witches' latest vile
scheme."
Hey, we'd be totally down for that.
Still, as of the making of this video, there's no way to know when we'll be able to see this
film.
The release date has yet to be announced, and the project doesn't even have an IMDb
page yet.
Maybe if we all put on our pointy hats and cast a spell or two, we can help this project
finally see the light of day.
"Oil of boil… and a dead man's nose."
"Dead man's nose!"
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