As we move from Halloween to Christmas, Disney+ has announced a possible gift (or nostalgia curse) with the announcement that Hocus Pocus 2 is a go. The live-action sequel is being filmed in Rhode Island (not Salem), and will be directed by Anne Fletcher. Hocus Pocus 2 is expected to come exclusively to Disney+ Fall 202.
Here’s the cast and the synopsis:
Bette Midler (“The First Wives Club,” “Beaches”), Sarah Jessica Parker (“Sex and the City,” “Divorce”), and Kathy Najimy (“Sister Act,” “Younger”) star as Winifred, Sarah, and Mary, the delightfully wicked Sanderson sisters who bewitched audiences in the 1993 film “Hocus Pocus.” Doug Jones (“The Shape of Water,” “What We Do in the Shadows”) also returns as Billy Butcherson. Joining them are Whitney Peak (“Gossip Girl,” “Molly’s Game”) as Becca, Lilia Buckingham (“Dirt,” “Crown Lake”) as Cassie, and Belissa Escobedo (“American Horror Stories,” “The Baker and the Beauty”) as Izzy, three young women in present-day Salem who incite the wrath of the three witches.
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.
I’m going to admit to being pretty nervous about the sequel. While the added cast sounds amazing…I’m really hoping this isn’t based off the terrible sequel novel that came out a couple years ago. Still, people have been begging for a sequel since Hocus Pocus came out in 1993. In the end, we will just have to see if with new ingredients the same spell will hold.
