Sisters, we've been gone 300...er, make that almost 30 years. But it's going to be a full moon again soon!
On Thursday, May 20, Disney announced that the highly anticipated sequel to its cult 1993 Halloween comedy film Hocus Pocus will be released in May 2022 on Disney+ and that original cast members Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy will reprise their roles as witches Winifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson. Production is set to begin this fall.
"In Hocus Pocus 2, three young women accidentally bring the Sanderson Sisters back to modern day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on the world," Disney announced in its press release.
And we're not the only ones who are celebrating. Midler wrote on Instagram, "Sistaaaahs! It's been 300 years... But we're BACK!"
Parker also shared a message on her own page, writing, "Yep. I'm ready. To run. Amok, amok, amok, amok. #HocusPocus2 arrives Fall 2022 on @disneyplus Sisters??? X, SJ."
And Najimy wrote in her own Instagram message, "The people have spoken: I smell children...again. #HocusPocus2 arrives Fall 2022 on @DisneyPlus."
Director and choreographer Anne Fletcher, who directed the films Step Up, The Proposal and 27 Dresses, will helm the new movie, Disney said, adding that her longtime colleague Adam Shankman was originally tapped to direct but is currently in production directing Disney's Disenchanted, the sequel to Enchanted. He will continue to serve as an executive producer of Hocus Pocus 2.
Hocus Pocus' scriptwriter Is Jen D'Angelo, who served as an executive story editor and writer for the series Workaholics.
The sequel has been in the works for several years. In 2017, two years before Disney+ launched, E! News learned that a new iteration of Hocus Pocus was being developed for the Disney Channel. In October 2019, reports said a Disney+ sequel to the 1993 film was in the works and in March 2020, it was reported that Shankman was tapped as director. He later confirmed on Instagram that he was involved in the project.
Last October, Midler, Parker and Najimy reunited in costume at the virtual event In Search of the Sanderson Sisters: A Hocus Pocus Hulaween Takeover. They were joined by former co-stars Thora Birch, Omri Katz and Doug Jones as well as many other celebs, including Mariah Carey and Meryl Streep. The event was held in place of Midler's annual Hulaween costume gala, which is organized by her non-profit organization New York Restoration Project.
"Thank you to the Divine Miss M @BetteMidler for having me!" Carey tweeted after the reunion. "Best Halloween movie ever!!"