The Sanderson sisters will return once again: “Hocus Pocus 3” is officially in the works at Disney with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy returning to star.
Development on the threequel was confirmed in 2023, following the successful launch of “Hocus Pocus 2” on Disney+. The 2022 legacy sequel — about the trio of witches who get resurrected on Halloween night and scheme their way to permanently stay in the land of the living by leeching the youth out of children — broke records on the Nielsen Top 10 streaming charts, with 2.7 billion minutes viewed in its opening weekend. The movie also became the most-watched original film on Disney+ over its first three days of release.
Since then, the stars have been eager to get production going. (Nearly 30 years elapsed between the 1993 original and the 2022 movie, after all.) “I think if they’re gonna, they oughta, because time is not just marching, time is barrel-assing to the finish line,” Midler once put it. “Get us while we’re still breathing, I mean, God!”
Then, last fall, Midler confirmed she’d finally read an early draft of the script, which she described as “brilliant.”
“I got very excited, and now we’re trying to figure out what it is and where it’s going to be and how much it’s going to cost and all those logistical things,” Midler said during an appearance on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live.”
Earlier this year, Parker told Variety that the project was making progress: “They’re working on it. Where Better [Midler] goes, I go. Bette is like a 13-year-old girl with a new bike. She’s like, ‘I have wheels, let us travel.’”
“Hocus Pocus 3” is still in early development, with consideration for a theatrical release given the audience’s clear investment in the beloved franchise. EVP of production Jessica Virtue will oversee the project for Disney live-action.
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Midler is represented by CAA; Parker is represented by CAA and Schreck Rose Dapello & Adams LLP; and Najimy is represented by Independent Artist Group.
From Variety US