Disney is celebrating Halloween by giving fans some official news about the highly anticipated Hocus Pocus 2. The sequel to 1993’s Hocus Pocus is in production, with original stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy all set to return as the Sanderson Sisters. Folks were curious to see who would be joining the trio in the new film, set for its debut next year, and now we know.ย
Disney announced on Sunday morning that the cast of Hocus Pocus 2 includes Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, Belissa Escobedo, Doug Jones, Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, Hannah Wadingham, Juju Brener, Froy Guiterrez, Taylor Henderson, and Nina Kitchen. The roles these actors are playing haven’t been revealed just yet. Hopefully that news will arrive as production continues.
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Longtime fans of Hocus Pocus will immediately recognize Doug Jones as the fourth returning star in the sequel. In the 1993 film, Jones played zombie Billy Butcherson who rose from the grave and turned on the Sanderson Sisters. To this point, Jones is the only other original Hocus Pocus actor confirmed to return, outside of the trio of witches.ย
Tony Hale’s involvement in Hocus Pocus 2 has been a topic of conversation already, as his face was seen on signs and posters from the set before he was officially announced. Sam Richardson, fresh off a guest starring role in the final two episodes of Ted Lasso Season 2, was revealed to be in the cast last week. Speaking of Ted Lasso, Hannah Waddingham has become a household name over the last two years thanks to her role as Rebecca in the award-winning series, taking home an Emmy statue of her own just a month or so ago.
Vanessa Shaw, who played Allison in the 1993 film, hasn’t heard much about the sequel just yet. However,ย during a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Shaw said she’s excited to see whatย Hocus Pocus 2ย has in store, even if she’s not in it.
“I would love to know more about it. I haven’t heard anything. So it may be just that it’s way [early] in pre-production or it’s maybe something entirely different than the original. I haven’t heard anything, sadly. Sorry,” Shaw told us. “That movie just, it blew my mind to be able to do that movie as a young child growing up on Disney movies. It just was an amazing second film to have done. It brought me to basically love filmmaking because, up to that point, I hadn’t really done anything that big. I mean,ย Ladybugsย was pretty big for me to begin with, but three months on the set working on this movie, it just rocked my world. So to be able to, again, have everyone love it … So Iย hope the second one is just as cool.”
Hocus Pocus 2 will be released on Disney+ next year.
