Update, May 20, 2021: Are those children we smell? Likely, because Hocus Pocus 2 is officially underway. Sarah Jessica Parker took to Instagram on Thursday to reveal that the beloved 1993 film was finally getting its long-awaited sequel. "Yep. I'm ready. To run. Amok, amok, amok, amok," she posted, referring to one of her most memorable lines in the movie. The actress also revealed that the movie would arrive in Fall 2022 on Disney+.
Parker's original co-stars Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy also shared the film poster to their respective social media feeds, confirming that the wicked trio would all be reprising their roles as the Sanderson sisters for the occasion.
The movie, per People, revolves around "three young women who accidentally bring back the Sanderson Sisters to modern day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking havoc on the world." It will begin filming this fall.
Original post, 5/29/2020: I don't want to encourage you to get your hopes up too high, because Hollywood has an awful habit of nurturing your pop culture dreams and expectations before popping them like a balloon on a whim...but it really does sound like a Hocus Pocus sequel is going to happen. There's already a writer, Jen D’Angelo, and a director, Adam Shankman, on board, as Variety reports; what's more, all three Sanderson sisters—Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy—are reportedly up for reprising their roles. In a new interview with Bruce Bozz on Sirius XM, Parker said a sequel "would be a very, very fun idea," adding, "We'll see what the future holds." So...is it fair to assume that what the future holds is a Hocus Pocus sequel?
Parker told Bozz Thursday that she, Najimy, and Midler were all "very hospitable to the idea" of a sequel, as Us Weekly reports. "I think for a long time, people were talking about it as if people were moving forward with it in a real way but we were unaware of it," she continued. "I think now we’ve gotten to the point where we all, like, agreed publicly to the right people, [saying], 'Yes! That would be a very, very fun idea.' So, we’ll see. We’ll see what the future holds."
Last October, Midler told Entertainment Tonight, "Oh my goodness me. Oh I hope they get to me before I'm a corpse," adding, "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." She wouldn't confirm her involvement in the project, but commented, "I can't wait to read the script. We're gonna see what happens."
Najimy, also speaking to Entertainment Tonight, said, "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." She continued, "I'm happy that it's happening, because the fans are really rabid and they really want it," adding, "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."
