Earlier today Bette Midler announced on her Twitter page that a sequel to the cult classic Hocus Pocus is finally getting the ball rolling. Midler also announced the due date to Hocus Pocus 2 (which is fall 2022). The film will be a Disney+ exclusive. Longtime fans are excited to see that Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker will all be reprising their roles as the Sanderson Sisters. Plotwise, the film is said to follow three unnamed young women. These women accidentally bring the sisters back to modern-day Salem, Massachusetts, and have to stop the chaos that ensues.
What We Know Technical Wise
Production for the upcoming film will start this fall (2021), with Anne Fletcher being the lead director. Other technical names include Lynn Harris (as another producer) and Ralph Winter and David Kirschner as executive producers.
As Adam Shankman was originally stated to direct the sequel film, the role has been given to Fletcher. This is due to a scheduling conflict that Shankman has. At the time of the announcement, Adam had released a statement saying,
As heartbroken as I am that I won’t be able to dirct my friends Bette, Sarah Jessica, and Kathy in what is sure to be nothing short oof a major event for Disney+ due to scheduling conflicts, I couldn’t be more pleased to be handing the reins over to Ane, who has brought so much laughter and joy into people’s lives with her previous work.”
Fletcher and Shankman are longtime friends, who had met as dancers in the 1990 Academy Awards broadcast. Shankman then went on to hire Fletcher as his assistant choreographer and they have worked together on more than 100 different projects (including her first directing project, 2006’s Step it Up).
Many have speculated that Disney had been working on the sequel to Hocus Pocus not long after the release of the first film. However, production for the film had started back in 2019. Like many who were alive at the time of the film’s release know, Hocus Pocus was not a popular title at its initial release in 1993. But, even with those roadblocks, the film was able to become a cult classic due to Disney’s annual Halloween marathons.
Are you excited about a sequel to Hocus Pocus? Let us know in the comments below!
