Billy Butcherson may be freed from Winifred Sanderson’s curse, but he may rise yet again. With the Black Flame Candle lit on Hocus Pocus 3, actor Doug Jones isn’t ruling out the possibility of reprising his role as Winifred Sanderson’s zombified ex-boyfriend in the upcoming third installment of the Disney franchise.
“Would I do a part three? Abso-freaking-lutely, I would,” the actor told Screen Rant when discussing the highly-anticipated, but seemingly dormant, project. “If that offer comes, yes….if that call comes, my answer’s a big fat yes…, if you had asked me before Hocus Pocus 2 was ever made, ‘Is there a character you wanted to revisit in your career?’ Billy’s the one.”
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Jones first took on the role of Billy in the original 1993 film, which introduced the undead character as Winifred’s zombified cheating ex-boyfriend. He reprised the role for 2022’s Hocus Pocus 2, which allowed Billy to finally share his side of the story, revealing that in reality, he was nothing more than Winifred’s crush. Although the pair shared a single kiss in the cemetery, they never had a romantic relationship, with Billy enduring 300 years of Winifred’s wrath regardless. With the Magicae Maxima spell undone and the Sanderson sisters vanishing into glimmering dust, Billy was released from Winifred’s curse and allowed to rest at last.
“I love Billy so much,” Jones said, adding that he “really wanted to find out more about him, his backstory, more of his relationship with Winnie, what went wrong there. And we got some of that in Hocus Pocus 2, so I was very satisfied with that.”
Following on the massive success of Hocus Pocus 2, Hocus Pocus 3 was greenlit in June 2023. More than a year later, little information has been shared about the project, and there have been no casting announcements. While Jones is eager to reprise his role as Billy, he told Screen Rant that “I’m not going to be the first one they call, because even with Hocus Pocus 2, I got a call later in the pre-production game, because they needed to secure the three ladies first,” Bette Milder (Winifred), Sarah Jessica Parker (Sarah Sanderson), and Kathy Najimy (Mary Sanderson).
Jones said that at the moment, he knows just as much as fans about Hocus Pocus 3, sharing, “story-wise, I don’t know who’s involved, who would be involved in the development right now. Will the three original witches come back? Will Billy come back? That’s all yet to be determined from my end.”
Director Anne Fletcher and writer Jen D’Angelo are set to return for Hocus Pocus 3. As of October 2023, the film was “still in the story phase,” with Midler revealing in July of this year that she hasn’t “seen the script.” Further information is unavailable at this time. Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 are available to stream on Disney+.
