The witch is back, and there’s hell to pay — or at least there will be ifBette Midlergets her wish forHocus Pocus 3. The Hollywood legend opened up about a potential third installment in the franchise and expressed her desire for Disney to get a move on with the film’s production while the cast is “still breathing”.
During an appearance onBusy This Week, Midler shared some disappointing news: she has not yet seen a script for the third movie in the franchise.“I haven’t seen the script but I’ve heard rumblings, but I haven’t seen anything,“Midler said. “But I think if they’re gonna [make it], they oughta, because time is not just marching, time is like, barrel-assing to the finish line. Get us while we’re still breathing.”
Hocus Pocus
Midler, who portrays Winifred Sanderson in the franchise, has made it known that the role is one of her favorites. The actress first played the role in the 1993 cult classic before returning for the 2022 sequel. Athird film has been announced to be in the works, but last year’s writer and actor strikes affected the production of numerous projects, and little has been heard about the project since.
How Hocus Pocus Went from Box Office Dud to Cult Classic
When the firstHocus Pocusfirst hit screens back in 1993, it wasn’t immediately a Halloween classic. Opening againstJurassic Park, the film only made $51 million against a $28 million budget. Years of annual Halloween reruns managed to salvage the film’s reputation with the public, however, similarly to another seasonal classic,The Nightmare Before Christmas,its staying power has only grown over the years.
This growth in popularity led to the film getting a sequel almost thirty years later.Hocus Pocus 2was a Disney+ original, so there are no existing box office numbers, but Disney widely reported that the second film was a huge success (despite some mixed reviews).In addition to Midler’s return, the sequel also featured the return of Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as Sarah and Mary Sanderson, completing the iconic Sanderson trio.
Hocus Pocus 3 Writer Offers Positive Update & Reveals Major Character Details
The Hocus Pocus 3 script has received an exciting update from film writer, who also teases major character details.
Midler reflected on the first film’s performance during her appearance onBusy This Week. She stated that, while she didn’t want to disparage the film’s initial popularity, she could certainly appreciate the jump in popularity over the years:
“When it first came out, I don’t want to use the word ‘dud,’ but I will use it in this context because, as the years went on, it cumulatively got more and more and more of an audience until it became a cult classic. I think it was about 10 years after it had been released that we started agitating for us to do a sequel and we were just met with absolute disinterest, complete disinterest, and it’s my favorite part that I’ve ever played.”
Details aboutHocus Pocus 3are currently scarce, but it looks like the demand is there. If nothing else, it sounds like the cast is quite eager to get production underway. All fans can hope to do, unfortunately, is wait for Disney to fast-track the project. Hopefully, this sequel will not take another 30 years to come out.
