Culture

Here’s your first look at Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in Hocus Pocus 2

By Sam Damshenas

12th November 2021

The Hocus Pocus trio are running “amok, amok, amok!” in the first official look at the sequel.

For Disney+ Day (12 November), which coincides with the second anniversary of the streaming service, Disney+ unveiled a first look at Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as they don their cloaks and vaccums for a second stint as the delightfully wicked Sanderson Sisters.

Disney+ revealed that it will arrive in “Fall 2022″, 29 years after the release of the 1993 original. Hocus Pocus was initially met with mixed reviews, but has since been recognised as a cult classic thanks to Midler’s berserk performance as coven leader Winifred, its ridiculously camp themes and endless popularity around Halloween season.

The sequel will follow three young women who accidentally resurrect the trio in modern day Salem “and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on the world.”

Midler, Parker and Najimy will be joined by Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso), Tony Hale (Arrested Development), Sam Richardson (Veep), Whitney Peak (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Lilia Buckingham (Zoe Valentine), Belissa Escobedo (The Baker and the Beauty), Juju Brener (Vanquish), Froy Gutierrez (Teen Wolf), Taylor Henderson (Earwig and the Witch) and newcomer Nina Kitchen.

Doug Jones (Star Trek: Discovery), who played Billy Butcherson in the original, the ex-boyfriend of Winifred resurrected as a zombie, will also reprise his role.

Production on Hocus Pocus 2 began earlier this year under the direction of Anne Fletcher, who is best known for her work on films such as Step Up (2006), 27 Dresses (2008), The Proposal (2009), Hot Pursuit (2015) and Dumplin’ (2018).

“Now more than ever, people need to laugh. We should be laughing every day, and there is so much fun to be had with these three unbelievable women playing delicious characters from such a beloved film,” she said in a previous statement.

“I am so grateful to be able to play a part in bringing these witches back to life, and to be working with my friends at Disney again makes it all the more special. This is a movie for everyone, from the fans who grew up with the first film to the next generation of viewers, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Check out the first look of Hocus Pocus 2 below.