By Zach Johnson
Come! We fly! Production on the live-action comedy Hocus Pocus 2, the haunting sequel to Disney’s Halloween cult classic, is underway in Rhode Island. The Disney+ original film, directed by Anne Fletcher, will debut exclusively on Disney+ in Fall 2022.
Disney Legend Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy star as Winifred, Sarah, and Mary, the delightfully wicked Sanderson sisters who bewitched audiences in the 1993 film Hocus Pocus. Doug Jones also returns as Billy Butcherson. Joining them are Whitney Peak as Becca, Lilia Buckingham as Cassie, and Belissa Escobedo as Izzy, three young women in present-day Salem who incite the wrath of the three witches.
It’s been 29 years since someone lit the Black Flame Candle and resurrected the 17th century sisters who were executed for practicing witchcraft, and they are looking for revenge. Now it is up to three high school students to figure out how to stop the ravenous witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on Salem before midnight on All Hallow’s Eve.
“I am beyond thrilled to be involved in the sequel to a film that is as beloved as Hocus Pocus,” says Fletcher. “Fans around the world have embraced these characters and have made this film a Halloween tradition whose popularity continues to grow, and how lucky am I to be back at Disney with these three extraordinarily talented ladies in the iconic roles they created, as well as our fabulous new additions to the cast?”
Rounding out the cast of Hocus Pocus 2 are Hannah Waddingham, Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, Juju Brener, Froy Gutierrez, Taylor Paige Henderson, and Nina Kitchen.
Hocus Pocus 2 is written by Jen D’Angelo and produced by Lynn Harris, with Adam Shankman, Ralph Winter, and David Kirschner serving as the sequel’s executive producers.
