You never want to ruin a childhood classic, but when someone throws out the idea of more Hocus Pocus, all sequel/reboot/remake logic is lost to the thrill of possibly getting to spend more time with the Sanderson sisters. A rumor that a Hocus Pocus sequel was in the works first popped up just about two years ago, but there hasn’t been a single stitch of news about the film since – until now. Hit the jump to find out who’s rumored to have joined the project and what direction they plan to take with the story this time around.
[Update: Unfortunately, Tina Fey's reps have reached out (via Deadline) to say that she is not developing a Hocus Pocus sequel after all. Instead, Fey is actually in early development on an untitled witch project at Disney, which is described as being in the vein of Ghostbusters. She will produce and is also attached to star in the supernatural pic (which, again, is not Hocus Pocus 2). Our original story follows after the jump.]
The 1993 Kenny Ortega-directed release stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the notorious Sanderson sisters, a group of witches who are killed by an angry mob back in 1693. However, just before they’re hung, Winifred Sanderson (Midler) casts a spell; “On All Hallows Eve when the moon is round, a virgin will summon us from under the ground.” Basically, if a virgin lights the black flame candle on Halloween, the Sanderson sisters come back to life and, sure enough, 300 years later, Max Dennison (Omri Katz) comes to town, tries to prove the legend wrong, lights the candle and winds up bringing the sisters back to town.
Despite having an intense crush on Katz for much of my childhood, Midler, Parker and Najimy are the main reasons Hocus Pocus is so unforgettable, but if The Tracking Board’s reports are true, Winnie, Sarah and Mary Sanderson will not be the core of Hocus Pocus 2. Here’s what they’re reporting:
“The sequel will pick up years after the original, focusing on a housewife who is related to the Sanderson sisters, who teams up with a witch hunter to save her children after they run afoul of some resurrected witches while out trick-or-treating. No actors from the original film have been confirmed as returning for the sequel.”
There’s nothing particularly mind-blowing about that scenario until you throw another element of The Tracking Board’s report into the equation – Tina Fey. Again, only if this news turns out to be true, Tina Fey will produce the Hocus Pocus sequel via her company, Little Stranger, alongside Allison Shearmur, Bryan Oh and Stephen Meinen of Allison Shearmur Productions as well as Jessica Virtue and Tendo Nagenda from Disney, too.
Back in April, Tracking Board posted another piece on the Hocus Pocus sequel in which they noted that the folks behind it were on the hunt for two female leads “in the vein of Tina Fey and Melissa McCarthy.” If Fey really is on board to produce, it’d make sense for her to snag a role in the film too, especially if there’s one that suits her well. Having just sat through Tammy, McCarthy making her way into this one is another story.
But of course, nothing’s been confirmed so there’s no getting carried away with the idea of a Hocus Pocus sequel just yet. If Disney, Allison Shearmur Productions or Little Stranger don’t make this thing official soon, I might run, amok. Amok, amok, amok, amok, amok ... (Sorry, I had to.)
