Hold on to your broomsticks, ‘Hocus Pocus 3' just got a huge update. Disney is officially developing ‘Hocus Pocus 3' according to Sean Bailey, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, confirmed while discussing upcoming live-action projects in a profile published by The New York Times on Sunday (June 4).
This news follows the second installment of the franchise titled ‘Hocus Pocus 2.' The sequel came after 30 years after the original film, which was released in 1993. The series stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy.
‘Hocus Pocus 2' broke streaming records when it debuted on Disney+ last September, shattering Disney's ‘Encanto.'
Audiences reportedly watched 2.73 billion minutes of the Anne Fletcher–directed film, per Entertainment Weekly. ‘Hocus Pocus 2' had a runtime of 103 minutes which “is the equivalent to it being viewed in full around 26 million times over its first three days of release,” the publication reported.
‘Hocus Pocus 2' was “the biggest opening for a streaming movie ever recorded” in Nielsen history. ‘Hocus Pocus 2's' beat ‘Encanto' by nearly 500 million, as that Disney production had 2.2 billion minutes of streaming over its launch between December 2021 and January 2022. Disney's ‘Frozen 2' rounded out the top three with 2.18 billion minutes streamed over the same opening period.
Shortly after the release, the Sanderson Sisters teased a possible third installment.
“Kathy had a good idea that the third one should be animated,” Parker said. “That would be cool and a smart idea. It's fun, funny, and could be interesting and innovative, like old-fashioned or new [animation]. Of course I'd be happy to have a conversation [for a third film] — it just depends on what Kathy and Bette want!”
The film's plot has not been revealed, but the franchise's premise follows Parker, Midler, and Najimy who play three cursed witches who returned from the dead to search for young souls to consume after being disrupted. The film takes place in the historically haunted Salem, Massachusetts.
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