First Look At Original Trio Back To Run "Amok" In Hocus Pocus 2

Written By Jordan McGlinchey

The date November 12 is slowly becoming a special date for many Disney fans around the world, as it now marks a birthdate for the hugely successful streaming service, Disney+.

November 12 2021, marks the service’s second birthday and to mark the occasion, the official Disney+ Twitter page has been posting announcements every few mins regarding all the new content either about to hit the site or is in production.

READ MORE: Obi-Wan Kenobi Sizzle Reel Released For Disney Plus Day

One of the many announcements related to the very long-awaited sequel of one of the greatest cult classic films there has ever been – Hocus Pocus 2, which has been given a release date of Fall 2022.

The Sanderson Sisters are back and after almost two decades, the original trio are reprising what appears to be one of their most famous roles. Despite the first film, released way back in 1993, not making any waves at the box office at all, it has built a huge fan base over the years, with many families passing it down through the generations.

Having been born in 1991 myself, I was the perfect age range for the film and grew up enjoying it, eventually watching it with my own children – it just has that appeal.

Rumours have been circulating for years that a sequel was in the works, but nothing ever came of it. The three actresses from the original, Kathy Najimi, Sarah Jessica Parker and Bette Midler, have all said on more than one occasion they would love to play the part again. In fact, Midler has even dressed up as her on screen character on numerous occasions.

Many fans were then caught completely off guard when Midler herself posted a tweet on Twitter back in May 2021 confirming that she and her “Sistaaaahs!” would be back. Since then, the excitement for the sequel has just grown and grown with more and more focus being put on it, and it was confirmed a few days ago that production and filming were well under-way, much to the excitement of fans around the world. The new film is directed by Anne Fletcher, with the story coming from Jen D’Angelo, who also serves as screenwriter.

The difficulty Disney have with this film, however, is that the original is so loved – it needs to be good, or people aren’t going to be happy. The original Hocus Pocus creates a lot of nostalgia for a generation of 90’s kids, and as I said earlier, is a film used to bond families. Disney doesn’t exactly have the best track record for making long awaited sequels work *cough* Tron *cough*.

The other issue Disney has with this particular sequel, unfortunately revolves around the actresses themselves. The point of the original was the sisters needed to steal the life force of the children of Salem (before sunrise) in order to maintain their youth and essentially live forever. They are obviously unsuccessful and so are presumably sent back to the beyond.

Almost 20 years have now passed since the original so it will be really interesting to see how it, if it does, effect the story.

One thing is for sure though, no matter how it turns out, Najimy, Midler and Parker seem to be absolutely loving their reunion and working on the film together, and to see that just automatically brings a smile to the face of any fan who loved the original film.

You can check the official announcement from the Disney+ twitter page below, which also gives us our first full look at the iconic trio in full character. It’s enough to “put a spell on you”.

Jordan McGlinchey
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