Hocus Pocus 2 is an upcoming American fantasy comedy horror film directed by Anne Fletcher, written by Jen D’Angelo, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. A sequel to the 1993 film Hocus Pocus, it stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, and Doug Jones[1] reprising their roles; Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, Belissa Escobedo, Hannah Waddingham, Tony Hale, and Sam Richardson join the cast in new roles.
A sequel to Hocus Pocus was confirmed to be in development in 2019, with D’Angelo set to write the screenplay, and Fletcher confirmed as director in April 2021. Production began in October 2021 in Newport, Rhode Island, and finished in January 2022. After two test screenings of the film indicated a weak ending, re-shoots took place in early June 2022, in Astoria, New York.
The film is scheduled to be released on Disney+ on September 30, 2022.
Twenty-nine years after the events of Hocus Pocus (1993), three high-school students must work together to stop the Sanderson sisters who have returned to present-day Salem.
Bette Midler as Winifred ‘Winnie’ Sanderson, the oldest of the three Sanderson Sisters. Her signature magical ability is electrokinesis, but she has extensive knowledge of dark magic thanks to her prized sentient spell book. As the leader of the trio, Winifred is often frustrated by her younger sisters’ incompetence.Taylor Paige Henderson as young Winifred Sanderson
Kathy Najimy as Mary Sanderson, the middle sister. Mary has the magical ability to track children with an enhanced sense of smell. She looks up to her elder sister Winifred and constantly seeks her approval. Nina Kitchen as young Mary Sanderson
Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson, the youngest of the three Sanderson Sisters. Sarah’s magical gift is a hypnotic siren call, which she uses through her song ‘Come Little Children’. Her immature and often air-headed nature exasperates Winifred. [4] Juju Brener as young Sarah Sanderson
Doug Jones as Billy Butcherson, a former lover of Winifred. She poisoned him on May 1, 1693 when she caught him cheating with her sister Sarah. He is raised from the dead as a zombie.
Whitney Peak as Becca, a high-school student and aspiring witch who accidentally conjures the Sanderson Sisters.
Lilia Buckingham as Cassie, a popular classmate and former friend of Becca and Izzy. She is the Mayor’s daughter and helps to stop the Sanderson Sisters.
Belissa Escobedo as Izzy, Becca’s quirky best friend. She accidentally conjures the Sanderson Sisters with Becca.
Hannah Waddingham as The Witch, a mysterious and sinister woman.
Tony Hale as Jefry Traske, the Mayor of Salem and father of Cassie.
Sam Richardson as Gilbert. He is the owner of the Olde Salem Magic Shoppe, the former home of the Sanderson Sisters.
Additionally, Froy Gutierrez portrays Mike, Cassie’s boyfriend. RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Ginger Minj, Kornbread Jeté, and Kahmora Hall will portray drag queens impersonating Winifred, Mary, and Sarah.
In July 2014, it was announced that The Walt Disney Company was developing a supernatural-themed film about witches and that Tina Fey was on board as a producer and star. However, Deadline Hollywood debunked rumors that the film was a sequel to Hocus Pocus. In November 2014, Bette Midler said in a Screen Rant interview that she was ready and willing to return for a sequel as Winnifred Sanderson. She also said her co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy were interested in reprising the roles of Sarah and Mary Sanderson as well but stressed that Disney had yet to greenlight any sequel, encouraging fans of the original film to persuade Disney to make one. In November 2015, Midler stated in a Facebook Q&A that “after all these years and all the fan demand, I do believe I can stand and firmly say an unequivocal no” in response to a question about a sequel.
In June 2016, actor Doug Jones mentioned that Disney had been considering a sequel, and behind-the-scenes discussions were in place to possibly continue the series.
In October 2019, a sequel was announced to be in development as a Disney+ exclusive film, with a screenplay written by Jen D’Angelo.
In March 2020, Adam Shankman signed on to direct Hocus Pocus 2 concurrently to his work on the Enchanted sequel Disenchanted.
On November 1, 2019, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy expressed interest in reprising their roles as the Sanderson Sisters in the sequel.
In September 2020, Midler revealed that she has entered talks to return to the film as Winifred, and in October 2020, she confirmed that she will return alongside Parker and Najimy. In May 2021, it was confirmed that Midler, Parker, and Najimy will reprise their roles as the Sanderson Sisters. In October 2021, it was announced that Taylor Paige Henderson had been cast as one of the three leads. Shortly afterward, Sam Richardson was reported to be in final negotiations to join the cast in an undisclosed role. That same month, Tony Hale joined the cast as the mayor of Salem, Jefry Traske. The full supporting cast was confirmed on October 31, 2021, including Hannah Waddingham and the return of Doug Jones, who portrayed William “Billy” Butcherson in the original film. In March 2022, it was announced that Thora Birch would not be reprising the role of Dani Dennison from the previous film due to scheduling conflicts with the upcoming Netflix series, Wednesday. Her character has yet to be recast.
On October 29, 2020, Midler stated that a story outline for the sequel has been completed, which she praised as “pretty great” along with Najimy and Jessica Parker.
On November 3, Midler revealed that the producers are trying to re-hire several members of the first film’s production team that are alive and hadn’t retired, as they felt much of the success of the first film came from the work of the behind-the-scenes team. In April 2021, Anne Fletcher replaced Shankman as the director due to his directing duties with Disenchanted, although he will remain as an executive producer on the film.
Production was scheduled to begin in the middle of 2021, in Salem, Massachusetts.
In September 2021, sets for Hocus Pocus 2 were confirmed to be built at Chase Farms in Lincoln, Rhode Island, and Washington Square in Newport, Rhode Island. Filming began on October 18, 2021, in Providence, Rhode Island, under the working title Black Flame.
Footage was leaked on November 2, 2021.
Filming also took place on November 8, 2021, in Newport’s Washington Square taking place in a modern Salem, Massachusetts. [38] On December 10, 2021, filming began in Federal Hill, which was transformed with a Halloween-themed backdrop. In January 2022, Midler took to social media confirming that filming had been completed.
In October 2021, it was announced that John Debney, the composer of the original film, was set to return to score the sequel.
The first teaser trailer was released on June 26, 2022.
The teaser trailer reached 43.6 million views in its first 24 hours while on Twitter, the #HocusPocus became a top trend of the day on Twitter following the teaser’s debut. The social media conversation was also the most gender-balanced of the comps at 51 percent male and 49 percent female.