Disney Officially Confirms ‘Hocus Pocus 2’

Disney has officially lit the Black Flame Candle on Hocus Pocus 2, the sequel film to the beloved 1993 cult classic. During Disney’s Investor Day event on Thursday evening, the company announced the long-awaited sequel, which has been rumored for years, is officially in the works and will premiere exclusively on Disney’s streaming service, Disney+. A projected release date for the film has not yet been announced.

Comicbook.com reports that during the event, Adam Shankman was confirmed to be directing. It was reported in March that Shankman, known for directing 2007’s Hairspray, Step Up, and A Walk to Remember, had joined the project. Thursday’s confirmation of the film did not include any further details, such as official casting, so it remains unclear if the original Sanderson sisters – Bette Midler as Winifred, Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah, and Kathy Najimy as Mary – will return.

Midler previously revealed that she and her former Sanderson sister co-stars have all agreed to return for the sequel. Speaking with Fox 5 New York’s Good Day New York in October, she revealed those working on the film “asked us if we were interested” in reprising their roles, “and of course all of us said yes.” Months prior, Parker revealed she, Midler, and Najimy “agreed publicly to the right people, yes, that would be a very, very fun idea, so we’ll see what the future holds.”

Midler also recently revealed the sequel film is looking to bring back more elements than just the Sanderson sisters. Midler told PEOPLE in November she is hoping to reunite with the creative team behind the original film, explaining, “we’re trying to see who’s available and who’s still out there and still working and who can come back, because a lot of the success of what we did on that picture had to do with the team that was surrounded, had to do with the team that they assembled to make that picture, the people who did the flying and the rigging, the people who did the green screens, the people who did the … I don’t think they called it the green screen in those days. The people who did the hair and makeup, which were all exemplary, the costumers, and the special effects people.”

Hocus Pocus made its theatrical debut in 1993, earning little to no critical or commercial success. Although it bombed at the box office, it quickly became a cult classic, with numerous calls for a sequel in the decades since its release. In October 2019, reports first surfaced that Hocus Pocus 2 was in the works.