Great news for Hocus Pocus fans! Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy will be reprising their roles as the Sanderson witches for Hocus Pocus 2. The sequel to classic Halloween comedy was given the go-ahead at Disney+ earlier this year, with Adam Shankman attached to direct from a script by Jen D’Angelo.
Midler confirmed the exciting casting news during an interview with Fox 5’s Good Day New York.
“They want to make a movie, they’ve asked us if we were interested and of course all of us said yes. I’m game, I’m totally game.”
Directed by Kenny Ortega, 1993’s Hocus Pocus followed the story of a teenage boy, who accidentally brings a trio of villainous Salem witches (Winnie, Sarah, and Mary) back to life on Halloween night. Although the film wasn’t much of a critical or commercial success at the time of its release, countless airings during the spooky season have turned it into a cult classic.
Bette Midler also shared a first-look photo featuring herself, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in full costume, for a Hocus Pocus reunion.
The virtual event, In Search of the Sanderson Sisters: A Hocus Pocus Hulaween Takeover will benefit the New York Restoration Project and takes place on October 30th.
Speaking about the mini-reunion, Midler said…
“It was so bizarre to have been these characters 27 years ago. And to put all that gear on… It was so bizarre because we fell into exactly the same relationship we had and the same style of behaving on screen that we had 27 years ago. As if we had been off for a weekend!”
The one-time event will be hosted by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and will also feature Glenn Close, Billy Crystal, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Debney, Samantha Diaz, Harry Guinness, Todrick Hall, Jennifer Hudson, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Michael Kors, Adam Lambert, George Lopez, Alex Moffat, Vanessa Shaw, Martin Short, Sarah Silverman, John Stamos, Meryl Streep, Kenan Thompson, Sophie von Haselberg, and other surprise guests.