New ‘Hocus Pocus’ film reportedly in development at Disney Plus
LOS ANGELES - Just in time for Halloween, there’s reportedly a new incarnation of “Hocus Pocus” in the works.
Jen D’Angelo, who served as a writer and co-producer on the Comedy Central series “Workaholics,” has been hired to write the script for a new “Hocus Pocus” movie — which is in development for the forthcoming Disney Plus, according to Deadline.
The original 1993 comedy-fantasy film, which stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, is about three villainous witches from the 17th century who are accidentally resurrected by a teenage boy in Salem, Massachusetts.
Kathy Nahimy, Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker in the 1993 Disney production “Hocus Pocus.” (Photo credit: Walt Disney Pictures)
None of the original stars are attached to the project at the moment, but the studio “is hopeful that they’ll be involved with the sequel in some capacity,” according to entertainment website Collider, which first reported the news.
Parker, who starred as witch Sarah Sanderson, said last year that she loved any scene on a broomstick while filming — but admitted that she didn’t really remember what the movie was even about.
Actress Vinessa Shaw, who played Allison in the film, told Page Six that the 1993 movie was “actually a flop when it came out.”
“[Bette Midler] had gotten an Oscar for her work and had all these prestigious things that she’d been doing and then she decides to do this movie which in the critics’ eyes, it was just appalling,” Shaw told the website. “They were just thinking, ‘How could she do this?’”
“Hocus Pocus” has since become a cult-classic and one of the most-watched Halloween movies of all time, thanks to seasonal re-runs on networks like Disney Channel and Freeform.
Last month, Shaw posted an Instagram picture with other “Hocus Pocus” co-stars around a crystal ball, writing: “Oh, will there be a #2?... ‘Tis time!”
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This story was reported from Cincinnati.