Hocus Pocus Sequel Will Explain Sanderson Sisters' Backstory
Sisstaaahs! I suggest we form a calming circle.
Come, we fly—to the Sanderson Sisters' origin story in Hocus Pocus 2!
The sequel to the original 1993 film will be released late next month, nearly 30 years after the witches' initial on-screen performance. From what we've heard, the plot of Hocus Pocus 2 will finally reveal the backstory of the three spooky sisters.
The movie's official synopsis had previously teased fans with some treats (no tricks) but ultimately left them craving more. (Side note: if you haven't watched the Hocus Pocus 2 trailer yet, please do so immediately).
According to a Disney press release: "It’s been 29 years since someone lit the Black Flame Candle and resurrected the 17th-century sisters, and they are looking for revenge. Now it is up to three high-school students to stop the ravenous witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on Salem before dawn on All Hallow’s Eve.“
Thankfully, Hocus Pocus 2 director Anne Fletcher (Dumplin' and The Proposal) just spilled even more of the much-awaited details about the upcoming film in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
In it, Fletcher set the scene for the film—which will reportedly begin with flashback to 1600s New England—where child actors Taylor Henderson, Juju Journey Brener, and Nina Kitchen will portray younger versions of Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy). Audiences will also meet a young Billy Butcherson (played by Doug Jones) and will finally be able to unravel the ties between him and the Sanderson Sisters.
"The opening sequence of the movie, we get some history of our witches and Billy. We get a little kiss—pardon the pun—of the Billy aspect of it and the world that they lived in and what happened to the witches. I always missed that in the first one. Like, [why] are the witches the way they are?" Fletcher said.
The director continued: "I did have that question, and the script came, and I loved the opening 1600s. I pushed that a little bit more, because I really wanted to point at, ever so slightly.... the idea that the 1600s and the now are the same. There's no difference. I just want to poke at the irony of it. But, in the joy of the film you get to see the young version of them and have a great time and understand the what and why of what happened to them."
A complete timeline of events isn't all that's coming, either. Fletcher also told reporters that the live-action comedy is inscribed with "some wonderful surprises in the mythology" of the sisters' origin story.
Fletcher confirmed that the Sanderson Sisters aren't born as witches, but instead, they gain their powers after being resurrected by three modern-day teens (played by Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, and Lilia Buckingham) living in Salem, Massachusetts.
"[We] give each girl not only the same color in the vein of our witches—Becca [Peak] being Winnie, Izzy [Escobedo] being Mary, and Cassie [Buckinham] being Sarah—but their hairstyles in a way are similar. It's a modern-day twist on it," Fletcher revealed.
She concluded: "It's the intention of playing into that. At the end of the day, the movie is about sisterhood, it's about sticking together through thick and thin, and being there for one another."
Hocus Pocus 2 is set to debut on Sept. 30, exclusively on Disney+.
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