Disney has a sequel to director Kenny Ortega and screenwriter Mick Garris' comedy-horror HOCUS POCUS with Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker in the works at their recently launched streaming service Disney+. And today we hear that Adam Shankman will direct the flick.
For the record Shankman is known for some truly un-horror movies such as WHAT MEN WANT, ROCK OF AGES, BEDTIME STORIES, HAIRSPRAY, CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2, THE PACIFIER, BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE, A WALK TO REMEMBER, and THE WEDDING PLANNER.
But, really, what did we expect. Robert Eggers? Oh… that would have been good…
Shankman is currently working on ENCHANTED 2: DISENCHANTED and it has yet to be determined which flick will shoot first. The original HOCUS POCUS cast is not officially attached yet, but evidently Disney hopes they will be involved instead of having to produce a total reboot. Thank God.
The original film was written by Mick Garris (THE STAND, THE SHINING) and produced by David Kirschner (CHILD'S PLAY). It followed this synopsis:
After moving to Salem, Mass., teenager Max Dennison (Omri Katz) explores an abandoned house with his sister Dani (Thora Birch) and their new friend, Allison (Vinessa Shaw). After dismissing a story Allison tells as superstitious, Max accidentally frees a coven of evil witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy) who used to live in the house. Now, with the help of a magical cat, the kids must steal the witches' book of spells to stop them from becoming immortal.
HOCUS POCUS was directed by Kenny Ortega from a screenplay written by Neil Cuthbert and Mick Garris (THE STAND). It starred Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Omri Katz, Thora Birch, and Vinessa Shaw, with Jason Marsden as the voice of Binks, and Doug Jones as Billy Butcherson. If you love the kid's classic Halloween flick as much as we do, you can snag a copy on Blu-ray over on Amazon RIGHT HERE.
