The Sanderson sisters waited 300 years to return on All Hallows’ Eve, but we won’t have to wait that long to get a sequel to Hocus Pocus. In news that fans will find “quite lovely,” Disney+ has begun production on the 1993 cult classic that starred Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker as three soul-sucking witches. And even though the last time we saw the children-hating siblings they turned to dust, the Mouse House has shared they’ll be starring in a new story, Hocus Pocus 2.
The black flame candle is alight to the Sanderson sisters’ delight.
— Disney+ (@disneyplus) October 31, 2021
Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, & Kathy Najimy shall soon return.
Joined by new faces which you soon will learn.
See more of the spellbinding cast in the next tweet.
Enjoy this #Hallowstream treat.pic.twitter.com/DiBAfCHiWX
As previously confirmed Midler, Najimy, and Parker will all indeed return for the film, which will hit Disney+ in fall 2022. According to Disney+, “Doug Jones (“The Shape of Water,” “What We Do in the Shadows”) also returns as Billy Butcherson.” Additionally, Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, and Belissa Escobedo have been cast as “three young women in present-day Salem who incite the wrath of the three witches.”
Hannah Waddingham, Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, Juju Brener, Froy Gutierrez, Taylor Paige Henderson, and Nina Kitchen round out the current cast. Anne Fletcher will direct Hocus Pocus 2. Jen D’Angel0 will write the film.
We wonder what this new trio will do to anger the sisters. But we hope they are ready to put up a good fight. A release from Disney+ shares just a little more about the plot of the sequel:
It’s been 29 years since someone lit the Black Flame Candle and resurrected the 17th-century sisters who were executed for practicing witchcraft, and they are looking for revenge. Now it is up to three high-school students to figure out how to stop the ravenous witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on Salem before midnight on All Hallow’s Eve.
Salem, beware. We can’t wait to see the magic in store.
Disney
In all honesty, Hocus Pocus 2 seems like a natural fit for the Disney+ slate, as the original film directed by Kenny Ortega has become a cult classic in the 25 plus years since its release. It has continued to find new fans after becoming a Halloween movie staple on cable television. However, its revered status with generations of viewers was not something many would have predicted. It initially disappointed, both with critics and at the box office. The movie released to mostly negative reviews, and it pulled in under $40 million in the U.S.
Considering how beloved the movie is now, though, we expect that Hocus Pocus 2 won’t take two decades to earn its place as part of most peoples’ regular Halloween viewing.
Of course, it’s only fitting that Hocus Pocus 2 is being made for the streaming site and not for a big-screen release. This way no one will have to go out of their way to see it; we can all watch it while spending a quiet evening at home. And that definitely won’t be terribly uncomfortable.
Featured Image: Walt Disney Pictures
Originally published on October 24, 2019.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike, and also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
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