It appears fans won’t have to wait much longer forHocus Pocus 2. After nearly 30 years, the sequel of the beloved children’s movie is finally scheduled to be released on Halloween 2022.
SinceHocus Pocuswas released in 1993, it has gained a cult following. For the past decade, there have been rumors that grew into a confirmation that a sequel was in fact in production after fans made the studio bow to their demands. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy are also confirmed to reprise their roles in theDisney Plussequel.
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Adam Shankman announced via Instagram that the production has wrapped, andHocus Pocus 2will drop on Disney Plusthis October 31st. Shankman had previously signed on to replace Kenny Ortega for the directing duties of the sequel, with Jen D’Angelo penning the script. However, he had to drop out to focus on his work on theEnchantmentsequelDisenchantment. Shankman did stay on as executive producer and was replaced as a director by Anne Fletcher, who worked on films like27 DressesandStep Up, amongst others.
The original 1993 fantasy comedy film follows a villainous comedic trio of witches who are inadvertently resurrected by a teenage boy in Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night. The teenage boy then forms a trio of his own, together with a lovable talking black cat, Thackery, to prevent the witches from forever becoming immortal.The plot forHocus Pocus 2was announced as taking place twenty-nine years after the events ofthe original film when three high-school students must work together to stop the Sanderson sisters, who have returned to present-day Salem. Beyond that and a few cast updates on who is coming back and who isn’t, little is known about the sequel, so the release date is expected to give the fans a little much-needed excitement.
While nostalgia has always been a reliable place to mine content from, studios sometimes miss the mark and have the fans complaining about ruining their childhoods. Well, fans can, for the most part, rest assured with this sequel because Bette Midler shared an image of the trio on set, and they looked like not a single day has passed since they wrapped upthe originalHocus Pocus. John Debney, the original movie’s composer, is also coming back.
Asmore information onHocus Pocus 2trickles in, it feels like all the endless campaigning by not only the stars but the fans is finally paying off. Hopefully, the film will live up to everyone’s expectations.
