Hocus Pocus Star Bette Midler Encourages Disney to Move Forward on Third Movie Faster
The star is hoping it won't take another 30 years for the third entry.
While it took three decades for audiences to finally get a follow-up to Hocus Pocus, star Bette Midler is just as hopeful as fans are that a new entry won't take as long to move forward, as she recently teased that she hopes Disney moves forward on the project while the cast is "still breathing." Unlike the debut movie, which was a relative disappointment when it was first released back in 1993, Hocus Pocus 2 was a hit almost immediately, which resulted in the confirmation that a third film was in the works. Last year's writers' and actors' strikes understandably impacted the development of all movie projects, though with those strikes resolved, fans are hungry for updates.
"I haven't seen the script but I've heard rumblings, but I haven't seen anything," Midler shared with Busy This Week. "But I think if they're gonna [make it], they oughta, because time is not just marching, time is like, barrel-assing to the finish line. Get us while we're still breathing."
During her appearance on the show, Midler also expressed her own desire to return to the role ever since she play Winifred Sanderson back in the early '90s. Given that the Halloween-themed adventure opened not only in the summer, but just weeks after the release of Jurassic Park, it took years of broadcasts on various networks to thrive with younger viewers.
"When it first came out, I don't want to use the word 'dud,' but I will use it in this context because, as the years went on, it cumulatively got more and more and more of an audience until it became a cult classic," the actor recalled. "I think it was about 10 years after it had been released that we started agitating for us to do a sequel and we were just met with absolute disinterest, complete disinterest, and it's my favorite part that I've ever played."
Due to the massive popularity of the Disney+ sequel, it took less than a year for a sequel to officially be announced, with news emerging of a Hocus Pocus 3 back in June of 2023. Hocus Pocus 2 director Anne Fletcher and writer Jen D'Angelo both expected to return.
With Hocus Pocus 2 having wrapped filming in January of 2022 and then going on to premiere later that year, it's possible a Hocus Pocus 3 could film sometime later this year or in early 2025 and still earn a Halloween 2025 release date.
Stay tuned for updates on Hocus Pocus 3.
Are you looking forward to a third film? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
