Anne Fletcher Returning to Direct ‘Hocus Pocus 3’

“Hocus Pocus 3” is casting its spell.

Following Sunday’s announcement that the Disney+ sequel from last fall is now getting a sequel of its own, TheWrap has learned that film’s director Anne Fletcher and writer Jen D’Angelo will be returning to the witchy franchise.

The news of a new “Hocus Pocus” sequel, after last year’s surprisingly enjoyable follow-up to the 1993 Disney classic, came during a profile of Walt Disney Studios president Sean Bailey in The New York Times. Bailey confirmed that there was another film in development — although, at the time, not much else was known.

It’s currently unclear, for instance, if original stars Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker will be back for “Hocus Pocus 3,” or if other actors from the first film who skipped “Hocus Pocus 2” (like Omri Katz, Vinessa Shaw and Jason Marsden) will return for the new movie. (In February of this year, Midler said that she wasn’t sure that she’d come back, telling E! News: “I’m not sure.”) Another looming question: whether the new movie will go straight to Disney+ or if the studio will get a theatrical release.

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The original “Hocus Pocus,” about a trio of witches brought back to life in modern day Salem, opened in the summer of 1993. It was a box office disappointment but grew in esteem over the years, first thanks to home video and then thanks to streaming and repeated airings on The Disney Channel and Freeform. Now the film, directed by Kenny Ortega and cowritten by Mick Garris, is a bona fide Halloween favorite. And, of course, the continued appreciation of the film eventually led to sequel talk, which finally solidified when the company launched its direct-to-consumer streaming platform Disney+. (Other Disney+ sequels/franchise extensions include “Zombies 3,” “Disenchanted,” “Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again” and “The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild.”)

With support for Disney+ cooling, it’ll be interesting to see whether the Sanderson Sisters will fly again on the streaming platform or invade cinemas nationwide. Amok! Amok! Amok!

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How ‘Hocus Pocus’ Went From Box Office Bomb to Disney’s Halloween Darling