Hocus Pocus 2 Announced for Disney+

After more than a year of reports that a Hocus Pocus sequel was on the way, fans of the iconic Halloween film got great news on Thursday. Hocus Pocus 2 was officially announced for Disney+ during Disney’s annual Investor Day presentation, confirming that the sequel to the 1993 film is indeed moving forward and with Adam Shankman set to direct.

Not a lot of detail was included in the announcement outside of Shankman’s involvement as director so it is not yet clear if original film’s stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy will be involved in the film, though Midler has previously shared that she and the other Sanderson Sisters would be on board for the film — and have seen an outline.

“They presented us with an outline, and after we picked ourselves up off the floor, because it’s been 247 years, we looked at it and I think all of us agreed that it was pretty great,” Midler shared with People earlier this year.

Midler also said that she hoped that a sequel to Hocus Pocus would include other elements that made the original film such a success.

“We’re trying to see who’s available and who’s still out there and still working and who can come back,” the actress admitted. “Because, a lot of the success of what we did on that picture had to do with the team that was surrounded, had to do with the team that they assembled to make that picture, the people who did the flying and the rigging, the people who did the green screens, the people who did the … I don’t think they called it the green screen in those days. The people who did the hair and makeup, which were all exemplary, the costumers, and the special effects people.”

Writer of the original film, Mick Garris, has also previously spoken about how important the original actresses were to that film’s success.

“I’m excited about [the sequel], but I really think the main reason the movie worked was the Sanderson Sisters, those actresses in those roles, those performances, that I think is the key to that movie’s long life,” Garris shared with ComicBook.com. “It was only modestly successful when it came out, at best. And I think they are the reasons that it’s still around since it came out in 1993. And I would love to see them return in it. I think that’s the plan, but I don’t know. I heard that that is what’s happening, and I believe it’s going to be for Disney+, but I’m not involved in it, which is fine. You don’t always want to revisit all of the touchstones of your past.”

Hocus Pocus 2 is officially coming to Disney+ though a release date has not been given.