'Hocus Pocus' stars open up about why they aren't in sequel: 'It just didn't work'

The Sanderson sisters were brought back to life in “Hocus Pocus 2,” but the children’s franchise couldn’t strike the right alchemy for some of its original cast members.

During a panel discussion at 90s Con on Saturday, moderated by Michael Gioia of People magazine, “Hocus Pocus” stars Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw and Jason Marsden reflected on the 1993 fantasy comedy and their absence from its 2022 sequel. Katz, Birch, Shaw and Marsden played Max, Dani, Allison and Thackery Binx, respectively, alongside Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson witches.

"We weren't invited to that meeting. So we don't really know why we weren't invited," Katz told a fan at the convention. "I think the fan base really wanted to see something with us. ... It's hard to really figure out the decisions that are made regarding what they want to do."

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Birch said the process of developing “Hocus Pocus 2” was “such a rollercoaster ride” and that there were discussions about reviving their characters in the sequel, which was released last September.

"The desire (and) the concept of maybe doing (a sequel) was about 10 years,” Birch said. “But then there were numbers of different writers that came on board and different directors, and so the story and the concept and the direction in which they wanted to take, too, kept evolving and changing and growing.

“I do know that there were, along the way, some concepts and some ideas about ways to bring us back. And for whatever reason, it just didn't work.”

Marsden added that he had a conversation with “Hocus Pocus 2” co-writer David Kirschner, who Marsden said went to bat for Katz, Birch and Shaw to be included in the film.

“(David) said he did try to fight to get you three especially," Marsden said. "But there's a committee. It's a team. It's an IP now – intellectual property. It's close to your hearts, but it belongs to a committee now. And so it's left up to them to make the right decisions."

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'Hocus Pocus' wasn't always beloved.Our 1993 review called it 'moldy' and 'stale candy corn.'

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Hocus Pocus' stars Omri Katz, Jason Marsden on absence from sequel