The Sanderson sisters will be returning to cause more wicked chaos with Hocus Pocus 3, 30 years after the original movie was first released.
Disney+ is developing another sequel to the film starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker. Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, confirmed the news in an interview with The New York Times.
It’s no surprise that a sequel is being developed as Hocus Pocus 2 was a hit for the streamer setting a record with 2.7 billion minutes of viewing.
Hocus Pocus was first released in 1993 and directed by Kenny Ortega from a screenplay by Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert and a story by David Kirschner and Garris. The film follows a trio of witches who are inadvertently resurrected by a teenage boy on Halloween night.
Although it was not a box office hit, over the years the film would achieve cult status with airings of the movie on Disney Channel and ABC Family.
A sequel to the family cult film was finally greenlit and Hocus Pocus 2 was released in 2022 with the trio of stars reprising their roles as the Sanderson sisters. The follow-up film was directed by Anne Fletcher, with a screenplay by Jen D’Angelo and a story by Kirschner, Blake Harris and D’Angelo.
While promoting the sequel for Disney+ Midler opened up about possibly starring in a third film.
“I don’t know. I’m envious of other actors who have franchises, and I was hoping for a sequel to First Wives Club, but we never got that,” Midler told EW last year. “After 30 years with no sequel to Hocus Pocus, I’ve always been envious of people who get to do their favorite character more than once. The fact that we got to do this finally, after 30 years of promoting the idea, I’m glad we got to do it. I’d love to have a franchise — especially a character I love playing.”
Midler continued, “If there was a third one, of course I’d sign on, but I don’t know how. I can’t imagine what the story would be, but I love Winifred, Sarah, Mary, and our relationship. It’s good for women. We stick together through hell and high water, but we do cause mayhem, and not many women cause that much mayhem!”