Fans of the Hocus Pocus films are going crazy for a new range of products from budget retailer Poundland.
02.10.2022 - 12:13 / msn.com
Belissa Escobedo is a Los Angeles-raised Chicana, the biggest cat mum ever (self-proclaimed), a former theatre kid, possibly America Ferrera’s long-lost baby sister (Just kidding. More on that later), and Izzy in the highly anticipated Disney+ Original movie Hocus Pocus 2. You may recognise Escobedo from her time as Natalie Garcia in The Baker and the Beauty, but on 30th September, she is making her way to Salem alongside the Sanderson Sisters.
Lover of all things spooky season, Escobedo spent many Halloweens as a child watching films like Hocus Pocus, which she deems “superior” to many others on her movie marathon list. “Halloween has always been my and my mom’s favorite holiday — and most of my family,” she says. “We’d always host these Halloween parties and [Hocus Pocus] would be what we’d always watch, especially growing up.
That was my favourite one. ” While she never dressed up as a Sanderson sister — “I didn’t have the confidence to pull that off yet” — the 24-year-old actor recalls wearing a witch costume quite a few times, being inspired by Hocus Pocus, of course. “Izzy is loyal and has this confidence to just go out and do whatever she can to help her friends and save the town, save Salem.
”Now Escobedo stars as Izzy, alongside Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy who are reprising their roles as the 17th-century Sanderson sisters, in the haunting sequel that takes place nearly 30 years after the Sanderson sisters wreaked havoc on a new generation in Salem. “Izzy is super cute,” says Escobedo of the Latina character. “She’s different from Natalie from The Baker and the Beauty.
Fans of the Hocus Pocus films are going crazy for a new range of products from budget retailer Poundland.
Sistahs! Hocus Pocus 2 introduced a new generation of Sanderson sisters — and Bette Midler shared her best advice with the actress playing Young Winifred.
The nation may have spent the past few months basking in record-breaking heat and wall-to-wall sunshine, but with the colder days and nights now upon us, it’s safe to say that autumn is well and truly here. And while the weather outside may be less inviting, pending cosy evenings locked indoors is more appealing than ever, especially when your home’s been given a lavish autumn-inspired makeover.
While eagle-eyed fans may have noticed Kathy Najimy’s Hocus Pocus 2 smile looked different in the Disney+ sequel, the actress had a good reason for switching things up.
The Sanderson sisters ride again! Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy reprise their roles as Winnie, Sarah and Mary in Hocus Pocus 2 — and the new movie is packed with references to the original.
“Hocus Pocus 2,” now streaming exclusively on Disney+. Returning to reprise their original roles include Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson, Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson, Kathy Najimy as Mary Sanderson and Doug Jones as William “Billy Butcherson.” Sadly, as you’ll find out from the following recap, Thackery Binx won’t be returning for the spooky sequel.
, the long-awaited sequel to the 1993 Halloween classic.Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker reprise their roles as Winnifred, Mary and Sarah Sanderson, respectively, in the new film, which finds the trio resurrected once again by a group of teen friends — Becca (Whitney Peak), Cassie (Lilia Buckingham), and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) — who light a new version of the infamous Black Flame Candle.However, when they return to wreak havoc on Salem — this time seeking revenge on the town's mayor, a descendant of the puritanical reverend who originally exiled them (both played by Tony Hale) — they find that a few things have changed.For one, the Sanderson Witch Museum has been reopened as a magic shop, run by a man named Gilbert (Sam Richardson), who claims to have witnessed the witches' first night of mayhem back in the '90s. But that's far from the only callback to the original.
After revealing that she was “dismayed” she couldn’t reprise her role as Dani Dennison in “Hocus Pocus 2“, Thora Birch spoke with ET on the red carpet at the Variety Power of Women event, where she explained that there were attempts made to have her return for the sequel and shared whether she’s planning to watch.
during the Broadway Podcast Network’s “The Art of Kindness” podcast on Thursday.“This started before COVID, but now it seems to be back on — and that is that they are building a Broadway version of ‘Hocus Pocus,’ ” said Kirschner.“I just want to pinch myself, and I’m just afraid that I’m going to be 9 years old and on a Little League field again … But it’s just so wonderful just to stand back and watch all of this.”The 67-year-old producer and “Hocus Pocus” creator made the announcement a day before the highly-anticipated sequel is set to fly on Disney+.“It’s not just me. It’s so many people that brought ‘Hocus Pocus’ [to life] — from [director] Kenny Ortega and Mick Garris’ script and John Debney’s score and Bill Sandell’s production design, and now a whole new generation are working on it,” Kirschner said.“Hocus Pocus” and its sequel star Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the hilarious-yet-sinister Sanderson sisters — who are hellbent on terrorizing modern-day Salem, Massachusetts.
Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The Salem witch sisters are back for a straight-to-streamer reunion this week with the release of “Hocus Pocus 2,” the highly anticipated sequel to the 1993 cult classic. The reboot arrives on Disney+ on Friday, Sept. 30. Bette Middler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy reprise their roles as the Sanderson sisters in the reboot, nearly three decades after their fabulously flamboyant performances turned what was expected to be a typical comedy with fleeting success into a campy cult favorite that has become a Halloween staple for millions across the country. Read More: The ‘Hocus Pocus’ Sequel Has Created Some Truly Insane (And Inspired) Merch
“Hocus Pocus 2.” And among critics, the sequel is faring better than its predecessor originally did — but only just.For the most part, reviews seem to be split between enjoying the nostalgia of “Hocus Pocus 2,” and wanting it to build more upon the original. Where The Hollywood Reporter’s Lovia Gyarkye argues that the sequel “honors its history without knowing quite how to move beyond it,” and IndieWire’s Jude Dry says it “hews closely to the original, perhaps a little too much,” others disagree.The AV Club’s Phil Pirrello wrote that “Using ‘Hocus Pocus’ more like a modular foundation than sacrosanct canon, director Anne Fletcher (Netflix’s “Dumplin’”) and screenwriter Jen D’Angelo find an inventive way of expanding upon the OG movie by reaching into the main characters’ past and softening the trio of witches’ more sinister edges as they once again wreak their unique, PG-brand of havoc on the town of Salem.”IGN’s Amelia Emberwing noted that it’s odd the movie doesn’t film in Salem, but nonetheless, “It’s wonderfully nostalgic that ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ feels like the Disney Channel Original Movies of yore.”Really, critics are just happy to see Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker back together again as the beloved witchy trio.
she was “dismayed” she couldn’t reprise her role as Dani Dennison in, Thora Birch spoke with ET on the red carpet at the Power of Women event, where she explained that there were attempts made to have her return for the sequel and shared whether she’s planning to watch.Nearly 30 years after was released, the new film reunites Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters, a trio of witches who are resurrected. In the original, Birch was one of the kids caught up in all the chaos and mayhem that followed their return to Salem, Massachusetts. Although Birch wasn’t included in the sequel, she says “there were three options we had for how to bring Dani back, all of which I was excited by.” However, “by the time they got around to filming, I was already on something else,” she continues, explaining that she was working on another project. As she explained earlier in the year, while on the set of her new Lifetime movie, , “I was working on something else when they were filming,” she said at the time, offering that “otherwise I was definitely going to be there on set with the girls.” That said, there seems to be no ill will, with Birch revealing that she plans to stream the new film.
out on Disney+ 29 years later, is much, much worse.Running time: 104 minutes. Rated PG (action, macabre/suggestive humor and some language).
Hocus Pocus casting its spell on Broadway? The Sanderson Sisters might be flying their brooms a bit closer to the stage after all.
Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic What strange sorcery is this that “Hocus Pocus” — a so-so comedy turned campy cult favorite starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as absolutely fabulous Salem witch sisters — should be getting a sequel nearly three decades after its 1993 release? At the time, Variety speculated that, were it not for the film’s three stars, “‘Hocus Pocus’ wouldn’t seem out of place on the Disney Channel, and perhaps belongs there.” (Its director, Kenny Ortega, would go on to helm the “High School Musical” franchise for the cabler.) In a sense, that’s what’s happened with this follow-up, aimed to breathe some life into the graveyard that is Disney+. The sequel’s existence owes less to popular demand (the original earned a respectable $39.3 million stateside and went on to become a Halloween season staple) than the realization that the film had tapped into preteens’ fascination with witchcraft before Harry Potter came along. It can be no coincidence that the new feature lifts so much of its look and feel from that franchise — with eye of newt, a dead man’s head and some aspects of “The Craft” tossed in for good measure. In “Hocus Pocus 2,” the three teens called upon to save Salem from the Sanderson sisters’ return are themselves budding witches, which means the movie is less about scaring kids away from magic than indulging their post-Potter junior wizarding fantasies.