'Hocus Pocus 2': Watch the Sanderson Sisters Make an Epic Return in First Full-Length Trailer

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.

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.

wrote on its website.True to witchy form, the humble and homey hovel is located in the woods of Salem, Massachusetts.“We all know that the Sanderson Sisters’ story might not have ended when we turned to dust, nor did our shenanigans,” said Kathy Najimy, who plays Mary Sanderson in both films. “What better way to celebrate the season than to host guests at the trio’s historic haunt for a night they’ll remember for years to come?”Airbnb further described the eerie experience as one complete with details from the “Hocus Pocus” world.“Wooden boards that groan under the weight of curious cats and cupboards filled with blood of owl and herb that’s red (and even a hair from Winifred’s head) await those who dare to explore the cottage’s dark corners,” the site advertisement said.Prior to their stay, visitors can explore Salem in all its gruesome glory, watch the spooky sequel, out Sept.

Disney’s favorite witches are back! Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy stepped out in New York City to celebrate the premiere of Hocus Pocus 2 on Tuesday, September 27.

Antonio Ferme editor Slow and steady wins the race — and in the case of “Hocus Pocus 2,” the Sanderson sisters are returning to seek revenge on Salem after 29 years. While Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy all reprise their roles as the three villainous witches in the sequel, there were some notable absences. For one, the main protagonists of the original film — Omri Katz’s Max Dennison and Vinessa Shaw’s Allison Watts — don’t appear in the movie. During the “Hocus Pocus 2” worldwide premiere on Tuesday in New York City, screenwriter Jen D’Angelo shed a light of hope that Max and Allison could return for a potential third installment.

upcoming Disney+ film “Hocus Pocus 2,” the sequel to the 1993 cult classic, revealed their thoughts about a potential third installment in the “Hocus Pocus” series during the Tuesday premiere.Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker told Entertainment Weekly that they would love to continue playing the witchy Sanderson Sisters who terrorize present-day Salem, Massachusetts.“I’m envious of other actors who have franchises, and I was hoping for a sequel to ‘First Wives Club’, but we never got that,” Midler, 76, said. “After 30 years with no sequel to ‘Hocus Pocus,’ I’ve always been envious of people who get to do their favorite character more than once.”“The fact that we got to do this finally, after 30 years of promoting the idea, I’m glad we got to do it.

film — but so have the film's stars, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy. ET's Rachel Smith caught up with Midler and Najimy at the New York City premiere where the two spoke about reviving their roles 30 years later. While the film was a joy to make, Midler — who plays Winifred Sanderson — said dealing with COVID was the hardest part.

Sarah Jessica Parker was joined by her twin daughters Marion and Tabitha on Tuesday at the premiere of her new movie Hocus Pocus 2. The Sex And The City star posed up a storm alongside her 13-year-old daughters, who she shares with long-time husband Matthew Broderick, during a rare family outing for her new film in New York. The trio happily smiled for photographers on the carpet, as the girls revealed they share their mother’s love for fashion in a strapless shimmering blue-grey dress and classic black dress respectively.

Sarah Jessica Parker and her twin daughters, Marion and Tabitha, hit the red carpet as a trio for the premiere of Hocus Pocus 2 held at AMC Lincoln Square on Tuesday night (September 27) in New York City.

Sarah Jessica Parker is hopping on her broomstick for a second turn as Sarah Sanderson in .ET's Rachel Smith spoke to Parker at the film's premiere Tuesday, where she revealed the hardest and easiest parts about making the film's long-awaited sequel, and dished on reuniting with Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy to bring the Sanderson sisters back to our screens once more.«The easiest part was being on the set with Bette and Kathy every day singing and flying, trying to recall and remember what we did and why, and I think the hardest part was just masks in film making, you know, COVID restrictions and guidelines that you really want to honor,» Parker, who attended the premiere with her husband, Matthew Broderick and their twin daughters shared.«It just separates you from people,» she continued. «I think one of the best parts of making a movie is the human exchange that happens on a set, you know, you're with your crew all the time.

, Lifetime’s true-crime film about the van life murder, director Thora Birch opened up about her involvement in two other anticipated projects, on Disney+ and Netflix’s series.“I was just a little dismayed I wasn’t able to make it,” Birch said of the sequel to, in which she originated the role of 8-year-old Dani Dennison, one of the Salem, Massachusetts, kids who gets caught up in the mayhem after the resurrection of the Sanderson sisters (Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker). Nearly 30 years later, Midler, Najimy and Parker have reunited for a new tale about the three witches, with Doug Jones reprising his zombie role. However, the original film’s young stars, Omri Katz and Vinessa Shaw, are not among the cast returning for the sequel.“I was working on something else when they were filming,” Birch said, revealing that “otherwise I was definitely going to be there on set with the girls.” That said, “I can’t wait to see what they do with it.

“Hocus Pocus 2.” The Sanderson sisters will return in this long awaited sequel alongside some new faces.The film is directed by Anne Fletcher (“Dumplin,’” “The Proposal”) and produced by Lynn Harris (“King Richard,” “The Shallows”), with Ralph Winter (“Hocus Pocus,” the “X-Men” franchise), David Kirschner (“Hocus Pocus,” “Chucky”) and Adam Shankman (“Disenchanted,” “Hairspray”) serving as executive producers. With the end of September and the start of October just around the corner, it’s time to get into gear for a magical movie 30 years in the making. Below we have compiled everything we know about “Hocus Pocus 2.”Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy will reprise their original roles of Winifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson, the trio of witchy sisters summoned back to Salem for a second time after Max Dennison (Omri Katz) lit the Black Flame Candle all those years ago.In contrast to the theatrical release of the first film, “Hocus Pocus 2” will be released exclusively on Disney+ for streaming on Sept.

, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker felt like no time had passed at all!«As soon as we walked on the set, the dynamic between the three of us was exactly the same as it was 30 years ago,» Midler says in ET's exclusive look at a featurette for the upcoming film. «It was like these characters lived with us for the last 30 years… It was a real thrill.»«It was not a difficult transition to step back into those boots,» Najimy agrees. Set 29 years after the events of the first film,  will give fans a look at the backstory of the trio's Sanderson sisters -- which includes an ominous birthday present from an elder witch, played by Emmy winner Hannah Waddingham.«It's very special to be a part of something that has become so meaningful in people's lives,» Parker notes of returning to the cinematic universe.The sequel also sees the 17th-century sisters resurrected in the present day after high school friends in Salem — played by Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham and Belissa Escobedo — relight the Black Flame Candle and spark a whole new adventure. The cast also includes Sam Richardson, Tony Hale, Juju Brener, Froy Gutierrez, Taylor Paige Henderson and Nina Kitchen.ET spoke to Richardson at the Independent Spirit Awards in March, where he gushed over the «surreal experience» of joining some of the original cast for the film's second installment.«It was incredible.

Double, double toil and trouble!