Halloween is just a week away, and everyone is starting to get into the spirit. We’re all planning our costumes and rewatching the iconic movies of the season like Scream, the OG Halloween, The Shining, and, of course, Hocus Pocus.
The 1993 classic stars Sarah Jessica Parker (Sarah), Bette Midler (Winifred), and Kathy Najimy (Mary) as the Sanderson sisters whom a group of kids accidentally resurrect on Halloween and then must stop from becoming immortal. The film was actually a bit of a flop at the box office when it was first released, but has reached cult favorite status in the passing years, in no small part thanks to the fact that it reruns constantly on various basic cable networks.
Now, as first reported by Collider, a sequel is in the works. The movie is in development for Disney+, the new streaming platform launching on November 12 that will also be home to all your favorite Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel movies, along with new original programming. (It will cost $6.99/month or $69.99/year.)
We don’t know too many details yet, but Jen D’Angelo is writing the script. Parker, Midler, and Najimy are not currently attached to the project in any official way, but Entertainment Weekly reports that Disney is hoping to get them involved. “I don’t think any of us who were making it at the time thought Hocus Pocus would have such a long life,” Parker told the magazine last year. “People tell me all the time they grew up watching it, and that they still watch it. I think it’s wonderful.”
She also posted a still from the movie on Halloween, calling it “one for the books.”
At a Halloween 2019 event, Midler and Najimy both cited their excitement for the project. “Oh, I hope they get to me before I’m a corpse,” Midler told Entertainment Tonight. “We wanna fly again. I hope Disney+ is a big success and I hope we get to do it, because [Winifred] is of course one of my favorite characters…We’re gonna see what happens.”
Added Najimy, “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. 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.”
It’s also unclear whether the new movie will be a direct sequel or more of a reboot with new characters.
People online had mixed opinions—some were excited but others were afraid a new movie could never live up to the original.
Here’s hoping that, whatever the movie is, it’s available for Halloween 2020.
