The highly-anticipated Hocus Pocus sequel has been out for a while, but now there’s been yet more exciting news.
Read on for the full story…
Hocus Pocus 2 was released at the end of September 2022 on Disney’s streaming service.
And now, there’s more!
It was the sequel we were all waiting for…
Way back in 2019, it was confirmed by Disney that Hocus Pocus 2 was officially in the works, thirty years on from the original movie’s release.
It’s about time we got to see the child-hunting Sanderson sisters in all their glory once more…
And fans are loving it!
But, first…
Let’s recap what went on the first time round…
Hocus Pocus came out in 1993 and tells the historic tale of a group of witches who, after been executed, have returned to Earth to get revenge.
The story begins in 1693, where we are introduced to a teenager named Thackery Binx who is trying to save his younger sister Emily from the witches…
The sisters take Emily and force her to drink a potion, enabling them to restore their youth. However, Binx puts up a fight, and as a result, gets turned into an immortal cat.
Don’t worry, it gets better than this, I promise…
After this, angry villagers are seen capturing the witches and prepare to hang them, but before they go ahead with the execution, Winifred casts a spell…
Her spellbook reveals that Winifred made a curse stating that when a virgin lights the black flame candle they shall return…
It’s always a virgin, isn’t it?
We then get taken to 1993, 300 years later, where we meet Max, his potential girlfriend Allison, and his kid sister Dani who visit the house on Halloween…
Being the new boy in town, Max, decided that he would light the “forbidden” candle to impress the girls, and suddenly, the trio have been released.
Great going, Max!
The witches have only got until sunrise to achieve immortal life and attempt to suck the life out of trick-or-treaters…
But with the help of the talking cat, Binx, who also thinks Max is a bit of an idiot, the children take down the sisters.
It ends with Binx being reunited with his sister, as a human, and the pair walk through the cemetery gates together. Peace is restored once more.
And now, everyone can’t help but watch it over and over — a fun film for all the family.
A Hocus Pocus sequel has long been rumored.
Rumors of the new movie started all the way back in 2017, when the original screenwriter, Mick Garris, said that he had heard rumors of Hocus Pocus 2 moving ahead as a movie, with a script already in development.
And fans were obviously thrilled…
But they said that it would be a reboot rather than a direct sequel.
However, October 2019 brought the news that Hocus Pocus 2 would indeed be a sequel to the original…
And it would be available to watch on Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+.
They really love to toy with our emotions, don’t they?
It was then confirmed that the original 3 witches will be returning to the big screen.
Back in May 2021, Sarah Jessica Parker, who played the role of Sarah Sanderson, confirmed that the 3 Sanderson sisters will indeed be returning, as will her co-stars, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy.
SJP shared this post on Instagram:
Her caption reads: “I’m ready. To run. Amok, amok, amok, amok.🕯️”
And, of course, Kathy Najimy wasn’t left out.
In her post, she said: “The people have spoken: I smell children… again.”
And now the movie has finally graced our screens!
Hocus Pocus 2 was added to Disney+ on September 30.
And one Texas mom believes that the movie is damning… literally!
Jamie Gooch from Troy told KWTX: “A worst-case scenario is: You unleash hell on your kids and in your home.”
She said, while seeming to tear up: “It grieves me, the thought of exposing our kids to darkness.”
The thirty-three-year-old conservative Christian mom explained that her family hasn’t celebrated Halloween for 4 or 5 years. They do, however, celebrate the harvest, as they run a farm.
The Daily Mail reports the Texan said that she hoped to “sound the alarm” so that other mothers could be “gatekeepers of our homes.”
She said in a Facebook post: “After all, the whole movie is based on harvesting the purity of children’s souls so that witches may live on…
“What is happening when we watch these films? What are we subjecting our minds to?
She added: “What are we welcoming into the homes of our families?”
The Texan urged people not to “fall victim to the schemes of hell.”
She wrote: “So before you hit play on the night of the premier of this movie, please ask yourself if not only your mind, but your children’s minds, are strong enough to ward off the hypnotization and bewitching trance that will be coming through your screen to aid the desensitization of the coming evil in this world.”
The mom said that she had faced “spiritual warfare” after having “fallen into the trap a time or 2.”
During her now-viral interview, she spoke about Hocus Pocus 2: “Everybody thinks it’s fake and innocent, but they could be casting any type of spell that they want to, anything could be coming through that TV screen and into your home”.
Social media users were divided over the issue…
One wrote: “Oh good grief people nowadays with nothing better to do.”
However, not everyone dismissed the Texas mom’s concerns…
One commenter said: “In all reality it is an opening to show young kids teens and adults that witchcraft is OK. But it isn’t. It is a gateway to evil.”
Guess it turns out not everyone was as excited for Hocus Pocus 2 as we first thought…
And now, there’s been more exciting Hocus Pocus news!
As according to a New York Times interview with Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, Hocus Pocus 3 is in development!
Although, Hocus Pocus 3 is one of many projects on Bailey’s mind, along which around 50 other titles.
Will you be tuning in?