New 'Hocus Pocus' Project Reportedly in the Works
After taking the stage at the Halloween party in Salem's Old Town Hall, and ahead of their upcoming musical ensembles in Hocus Pocus 2, the Sanderson sisters may soon be finding themselves on an entirely new stage – Broadway. Ahead of the sequel film's Friday release on Disney+, Hocus Pocus film producer David Kirschner revealed that a Hocus Pocus Broadway musical is currently in the works, meaning the Sanderson sisters won't soon be resting.
Speaking with Robert Peterpaul on an upcoming episode of Broadway Podcast Network's The Art of Kindness podcast, per PEOPLE, Kirschner shared that "they are building a Broadway version of Hocus Pocus." The musical has been in the works since "before COVID, but now it seems to be back on." At this time, the musical has not been officially announced, and there is no theater, cast, or creative team attached to the project just yet. There also isn't a timeline as to when the Sanderson sisters could take their spellbinding curses to the stage, but Peterpaul teased, "I think you're going to be very pleased."
"I just want to pinch myself, and I'm just afraid that I'm going to be 9 years old and on a little league field again... But it's just so wonderful just to stand back and watch all of this," Peterpaul, who created and produced 1993's Hocus Pocus and also serves as a producer on the sequel film, added. "It's not just me. It's so many people that brought Hocus Pocus [to life] – from [director] Kenny Ortega and Mick Garris' script and John Debney's score and Bill Sandell's production design, and now a whole new generation are working on it."
Taking Hocus Pocus to Broadway seems like a logical fit. Along with Sarah Sanderson's ability to lure children with her hypnotizing singing, the 1993 film's musical ensemble of "I Put a Spell On You," sung by Bette Midler's Winifred Sanderson, with backup vocals provided by Sarah Jessica Parker's Sarah and Kathy Najimy's Mary, at the Halloween party remains one of the most iconic moments from the film. Music is once again set to feature in Hocus Pocus 2, the stars behind the Sanderson sisters recently confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the sequel movie features "two big musical numbers" set to "familiar songs." Midler revealed that they "suggested that there be songs. That was our big contribution. We said, 'They have to sing.'"
The upcoming sequel sees Midler, Parker, and Najimy returning to seek revenge in Salem when they are once again awoken from the grave. Set 30 years after the events of the original movie, a new band of teenagers – Becca, Cassie, and Izzy – must "figure out how to stop the ravenous witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on Salem before midnight on All Hallow's Eve." Hocus Pocus 2 debuts exclusively on Disney+ at the witching hour (a.k.a. 3 a.m. ET) on Friday, Sept. 30.