Fans had been hoping for a follow-up to this cult classic YA horror film for decades. They took to the internet, petitions were created, passed around, and signed thousands of times over, and after what felt like a lifetime, their wish was finally granted. But despite half of the original cast returning, the sequel’s results were disappointing, to say the least. And now, only a few years later, it seems those same members of the original cast are back for round 3.
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According to Deadline, Hocus Pocus 3 is in early development over at Disney, and Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy are set to reprise their roles as the Sanderson sisters. Rumors about a third installment in the franchise began swirling back in 2023, when Midler noted a “brilliant script” had been completed. She also said that “producers [were] working out ‘all those logistical things’ before they can return to complete the trilogy.” But things quickly went quiet after Scott Bailey, former President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, left the company.
Hocus Pocus 3 Will Need To Clean Up the Previous Movie’s Mess
Disney has kept the plot details for the third Hocus Pocus film tightly under wraps, with no details having leaked out of the writers’ room aside from the main trio returning to their original roles. The first film centers on the Sanderson sisters, convicted of witchcraft in the 1600s after kidnapping a young girl. But 300 years later, they’re conjured back to Salem by unsuspecting teenagers, and the sisters set out to finish what they started before their untimely demise. The movie became an instant cult classic, and fans were immediately hoping for a sequel.
That sequel came out in 2022, and while it received higher ratings from critics than the original, general audiences were thoroughly disappointed with the movie they’d waited 30 years for, claiming that it had lost all the magic that made the first entry in the franchise so magical. It’s also worth noting that other members of the original film’s cast have expressed interest in returning to Salem, including Thora Birch, who played Dani, and Jason Marsden, who voiced Thackary Binx, so there’s hope that whatever comes from the third movie could more closely resemble the first.
Are you looking forward to Hocus Pocus becoming a trilogy? Which of the original stars would you like to see come back the most? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. And don’t forget to keep the conversation going over at the ComicBook forum.
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