The cult following of the 1993 Disney film HOCUS POCUS seems to grow every year, and by this point that film has become one of the most popular Halloween movies not titled HALLOWEEN. HOCUS POCUS wasn't a hit when it came out, but now that it's so popular it makes sense Disney has been showing interest in revisiting the property. It was announced in 2017 that Scarlett Lacey was writing a script for a Disney Channel "reimagining" that would be recasting the roles of the three witches at the center of the story. That project didn't make it into production, but now there's another attempt to bring back HOCUS POCUS in the works at Disney's soon-to-launch streaming service Disney+.
Collider hears that Jen D'Angelo, a writer and co-producer on the TV series Workaholics, has been hired to write the script for HOCUS POCUS 2.
Sources say that D’Angelo has been tasked with finding a way to bring back the original cast of Bette Midler as Winifred, Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah, and Kathy Najimy as Mary. None of them are attached at the moment, but the studio is hopeful that they’ll be involved with the sequel in some capacity. Since the project is still in early development at Disney’s forthcoming streaming service, it remains unclear whether they’ll be the main characters, or whether we’ll see them pass the proverbial torch to a new generation of witches.
Disney+ seems like a better home for such a project than The Disney Channel, because Disney is out to impress with this streaming service. With a 2020 original programming budget that is only said to be "short of $1 billion", Disney+ is going to be home to new Star Wars and Marvel shows that are expected to have budgets of 12.5 to 25 million per episode, building to total budgets ranging between 100 million and 200 million for just a handful of episodes. So they're probably willing to toss a good chunk of change in the direction of a HOCUS POCUS 2 featuring Midler, Parker, and Najimy.
The original HOCUS POCUS was directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Neil Cuthbert and Mick Garris (who crafted the story with producer David Kirschner.) The synopsis:
You're in for a devil of a time when three outlandishly wild witches return from 17th century Salem after they are accidentally conjured up by some unsuspecting pranksters! It's a night full of zany fun and comic chaos once the tricky 300-year-old trio sets out to cast a spell on the town and reclaim their youth — but first they must get their act together and outwit three kids and a talking cat!
We'll keep you updated on HOCUS POCUS 2 if this project moves forward.
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