The Black Flame Candle has been lit once more! Three decades after a sleepy movie box office performance turned into a cult classic Halloween movie for the ages, Hocus Pocus is casting a spell on audiences once again, the 1993 Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy-starring film making a theatrical return for a limited time this October.
Timed to the film’s 30th anniversary, Hocus Pocus is currently screening in theaters across the US and UK. In the U.S., the film returned to the big screen on Oct. 6 at chains including Regal and AMC. The film is also being screened throughout the UK at multiple cinema chains, such as Vue, Cineworld, and Showcase on multiple dates this month. Tickets for Hocus Pocus‘ 30th anniversary screenings are available wherever you buy movie tickets.
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Starring Midler, Parker, and Najimy as Winfred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson, Hocus Pocus is set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1993, 300 years after a trio of witches who were sentenced to death after draining the life force of a young Emily Binx. Now, centuries later, they return to torment Salem when Max (Omri Katz) lights the Black Flame Candle. Together with his little sister Dani (Thora Birch) and his crush Allison (Vinessa Shaw), along with the help of Binx the cat (Jason Marsden) and zombie Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), Max must stop the Sanderson sisters from draining the life force of Salem’s children before the sun rises.
The film debuted in theaters on July 16, 1993, to minimal success, though it quickly rose to become a cult classic Halloween movie. In 2022, Disney+ debuted a long-awaited sequel, Hocus Pocus 2. Picking up nearly 30 years after Max defeated the Sanderson sisters, the sequel follows a group of high school girls who summon the Sanderson Sisters back to life. Along with Midler, Parker, and Najimy, the movie also stars Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, and Lilia Buckingham. The film became the most-watched original film for Disney+ over the frame of the first three days of release, and it picked up three Emmy nominations this year in the Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes, Outstanding Music Composition For A Limited Or Anthology Series, Movie Or Special (Original Dramatic Score), and Outstanding Television Movie categories.
Hoping to capitalize on Hocus Pocus 2‘s success, Walt Disney Pictures president Sean Bailey confirmed in June that Hocus Pocus 3 is in the works. The upcoming movie will bring back director Anne Fletcher and writer Jen D’Angelo, though further information, including plot details, returning cast, and a release date, is not known. Both Hocus Pocus and its sequel are available to stream on Disney+.
