This article is about the Disney+ full-length movie sequel. For the sequel novel, see Hocus Pocus & the All-New Sequel.
Hocus Pocus 2 is an American horror comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher, written by Jen D'Angelo and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. A sequel to the 1993 film Hocus Pocus, the film stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, and Doug Jones reprising their roles from the first film.
The film was released on Disney+ on September 30, 2022.
Synopsis[]
After the events of the first film, three young women accidentally bring back the Sanderson Sisters to modern day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking havoc on the world.
Plot[]
In 1653, a young Winifred Sanderson was banished from Salem by Reverend Traske after she defied the authority of the church by refusing to marry John Pritchett. Rather than let her sisters, Mary and Sarah, be taken away from her, Winifred escapes with them to a nearby forbidden forest. There, they make the acquaintance of The Witch Mother who gifts Winifred the Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy for her sixteenth birthday but explicitly warns the sisters against casting a spell known as the Magicae Maxima, which makes the user all-powerful. The Witch Mother also teaches the sisters to kill other children to keep their youthfulness.
In 2022, twenty-nine years after the Sanderson Sisters were resurrected by the Black Flame Candle, Salem teenagers Becca and Izzy prepare to celebrate both Halloween and Becca's sixteenth birthday but turn down a party invitation from their estranged friend Cassie Traske. Becca and Izzy visit the Olde Salem Magic Shoppe (formerly the Sanderson Sisters' Cottage), a magic shop run by Gilbert, who gifts Becca a candle for their annual birthday ritual. Becca and Izzy light the candle and discover that it is another Black Flame Candle. As there is a full moon and the girls are both virgins, the candle resurrects the Sanderson Sisters once again.
The girls manage to outwit the sisters in a local Walgreens and then escape to the magic shop where they discover that Gilbert tricked them into reviving the sisters, having seen them on Halloween back in 1993 and being taught how to make the candle by the book. The sisters catch up to the girls and see a campaign flyer belonging to Mayor Traske, Cassie's father and Reverend Traske's direct descendant. Winifred decides they will cast the Magicae Maxima spell to eliminate Traske and take revenge on Salem. The sisters trap Izzy and Becca in the basement and leave to hunt down Traske, whose blood is needed to complete the spell. They force Gilbert to collect the other ingredients.
The girls escape and head to the Traske house to warn the mayor while the sisters find their way to the town's Halloween carnival and enchant the citizens to help them find the mayor. Meanwhile, Gilbert digs up Billy Butcherson, who has been awake but entombed since 1993. Gilbert needs Billy's head for the spell but tricks Billy into helping him collect the other ingredients first.
The girls reunite with Cassie and manage to trap the sisters within a salt circle in Cassie's garage before Mayor Traske returns home. The three teenagers make amends with one another but their reunion is interrupted when the sisters escape the circle and kidnap Cassie to use her blood instead. Becca and Izzy follow them to the forbidden forest where Gilbert has assembled the ingredients and soon discovers that Becca is also a witch. The sisters partially cast the spell and increase their power, but Becca distracts them while Izzy rescues Cassie. Becca manages to convince Book that it does not have to answer to Winifred, and Becca and the book flee further into the forest. The book shows them a warning about the Magicae Maxima spell, stating that whoever casts it must give up what they cherish most.
The girls agree to warn Winifred of the price of the spell but are too late: Winifred becomes all-powerful as Mary and Sarah fade to dust. Winifred grows despondent and begs the teenagers to use their newfound powers to save her sisters. While they cannot save the two, Becca, Cassie and Izzy join together in a coven and cast a reuniting spell and Winifred happily fades away to be reunited with her sisters.
The girls are joined by Gilbert and Billy while Billy starts to fade away, realizing that all of Winifred's spells have been undone and relieved to finally be headed to his eternal rest. The girls decide to give the book a new home and continue practicing their magic as they walk off into the night in a similar manner as the Sanderson sisters. As they leave, a bird identical to the one that the Witch Mother had shapeshifted into flies overhead.
In a post-credit scene, Cobweb jumps on a box with another black flame candle, meaning the witches may return again.
Cast[]
- Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson, the leader of the Sanderson sisters and the main antagonist. She is the eldest and is highly sensitive to people calling her ugly and has a very short temper. Generally the most intelligent of the three sisters, however, she is prone to being melodramatic. She has the power of electrokinesis.
- Taylor Henderson as Young Winifred Sanderson
- Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson, the youngest sister and one of the secondary antagonists. She uses a siren-like ability to lure children to the Sanderson home. She sings a song called "Come Little Children" to lure the children to there so she can suck their lives to become younger. She is not particularly intelligent, and she is often prancing around and goofing off. She is the most beautiful of the three, which makes her have the tendency to attract men.
- Juju Brener as Young Sarah Sanderson
- Kathy Najimy as Mary Sanderson, the middle sister and second of the secondary antagonists. Often complimenting and comforting Winifred, she constantly seeks her approval. She has the ability to sniff out the presence of children and has a tendency to bark in a Curly Howard-like fashion. She is the most observant of the three.
- Nina Kitchen as Young Mary Sanderson
- Whitney Peak as Becca, the main protagonist. Becca is an aspiring witch who manages to get her hands on a new Black Flame Candle at the town's magic shop located in the Sanderson Sisters' cottage.
- Belissa Escobedo as Izzy, a confident oddball and the classmate of Becca. Izzy, alongside with Becca, mistakenly summons the Sanderson Sisters on Halloween night, leading to chaos in the town.
- Lilia Buckingham as Cassie, a popular girl at Becca and Izzy’s school, daughter of the mayor, and an estranged friend of Becca and Izzy. However, when Becca accidentally brought back the Sanderson Sisters, she teamed up with the latter in order to stop the child-eating witches.
- Froy Gutierrez as Mike, Cassie's inept boyfriend.
- Sam Richardson as Gilbert, the owner of the magic store who inadvertently reawakens the Sanderson Sisters.
- Jaylin Pryor as Teen Gilbert
- Doug Jones as Billy Butcherson, the ex-boyfriend of Winifred whom she poisoned, in 1693, after she caught him cheating on her with Sarah.
- Austin J. Ryan as Young Billy Butcherson
- Tony Hale as Mayor Traske, Cassie's father and descendent of Rev. Traske.
- Hale also portrays Reverend Traske
- Thomas Fitzgerald as John Pritchett
- Brett Camp as Mr. Pritchett
- Hannah Waddingham as The Witch Mother, a mysterious figure who imbues the Sandersons with their magic.
- Ginger Minj as Drag Winnie
- Kornbread Jeté as Drag Mary
- Kahmora Hall as Drag Sarah
- Kim Niemi, Alison Weller, Holly Cinnamon, Patrick French as Townspeople
- Charlotte Peed as Mrs. Smith
- Ed Peed as Mr. Smith
- Michael Tow as Mr. Wilke
- Brina Healey as School Secretary
- Brian Wiles as Rob
- Owen Earls as Liam
- Skyla Sousa as Teen Winifred
- Aiden Torres as Teen Mary
- Emma Kaufman as Teen Sarah
- Chhoyang Cheshatsang as Thom
- Marissa Carpio as Food Stall Woman
- Naheem Garcia as Fred
- Dan Finnerty as Lucas
- Juvan Elisma as Alex
- Ryan Rosenthal as Glenn
- Jen D' Angelo as Liam's Mom
- Mark Fichera as Scary Scarecrow
- Jordan Von Netzer as Roman Soldier
Music[]
- Main article: Hocus Pocus 2 (soundtrack)
In October 2021, it was announced that John Debney, the composer of the original film, was set to return to score the sequel. The soundtrack, which features two new songs in addition to Debney's score, was released digitally by Walt Disney Records on September 30, 2022 and was released physically on November 11, 2022.
Production[]
In October 2019, a sequel was announced to be in development as a Disney+ exclusive film, with a screenplay written by Jen D'Angelo. Shortly after the report, Midler, Parker, and Najimy all confirmed their interest in reprising their roles.[citation needed]
In March 2020, Adam Shankman was signed on to direct, but in April 2021, Anne Fletcher took over to direct.[citation needed]
On May 14, 2021, Birch teased her reprised role from her Twitter post say "2022 will be Mah-velous".[citation needed]
On May 20, 2021, Midler confirmed it will release in Fall 2022.[citation needed]
On September 1, 2021, cinematographer Elliot Davis signed in to the production and said they will begin on October 4, 2021, and wrap before new year 2022.[citation needed]
Filming officially wrapped on January 27, 2022.[citation needed]
Reception[]
In October 2022, Disney+ reported Hocus Pocus 2 was the service's most-viewed film premiere in the United States, based on number of hours streamed in the first three days of its release. Disney later reported that Hocus Pocus 2 was the service's most-viewed film.
According to Whip Media, Hocus Pocus 2 was the 2nd most anticipated film of September 2022, the most watched straight-to-streaming title of 2022 in its first three days, as of October 2022, the most watched film across all platforms in the United States, during the week of September 30, 2022 to October 2, 2022, the 2nd during the week of October 9, 2022, the 4th during the week of October 23, 2022, as well as the 4th during the week of October 30, 2022, and the 9th during the week of November 4, 2022 to November 6, 2022. According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, Hocus Pocus 2 was the most watched program across all platforms, during the weeks of October 5, 2022 and October 14, 2022.
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 64% based on 154 reviews, with an average rating of 5.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Hocus Pocus 2 is basically a boiling cauldron of nostalgia, but that's more than enough for this belated sequel to cast a reasonably effective spell." Metacritic gave it a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Claire Shaffer of The New York Times said that while the film "may be a blatant attempt by Disney to continue propping up its streaming platform Disney+ [...], it manages to capture the same hokey magic of the original while creatively updating its humor". Ani Bundel of NBC News asserted, "The result is a joyful film that works well for both the 5-year-old child who is finally getting the hang of Halloween and the 15-year-old who still enjoys kid movies at heart. But most of all, it's meant for those 25 and up, whom Disney spent the last two decades preparing to appreciate a new installment of a cult classic franchise in the making." Jennifer Green of Common Sense Media gave the movie four stars out of five, complimented the depiction of positive messages, role models, and the diverse representations across the characters, while calling the film a "campy but entertaining sequel". Amelia Emberwing of IGN rated the film seven out of ten, writing, "The Sanderson sisters are back and the cost is a lot steeper than h--- this time. The original cast returns to remind us why Hocus Pocus became a cult classic, and new players give fans being introduced to the franchise wonderful characters to cheer on, although Hannah Waddingham should have been given more to do. Some shoddy greenscreen work pulls Hocus Pocus 2 down, but otherwise it feels like a Disney Channel Original Movie in a charming way." Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com gave the film three and a half stars out of four, writing, "Nearly 30 years later, Hocus Pocus 2 should make fans of all generations happy, paying tribute to the original and adding some gentle updating and some welcome diversity, subtracting some violence. It is also a little bit sweeter."
Videos[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the second long-time sequel to a Disney live-action classic, after Tron: Legacy in 2010.
- This the first Disney movie to explicitly mention Satan.
- This is Tony Hale's second Disney film after Toy Story 4.
- This is Sam Richardson's second Disney film after Ralph Breaks the Internet.
- The Sanderson Sisters perform a cover of Blondie's hit single "One Way or Another" (1978).
- Thackery and Emily Binx appear during the flashback from the previous film as Gilbert tells the story about 29 years ago.
- When Mayor Traske waits in line to get a candy apple. there is a man in front of him wearing a costume of a penguin waiter from Mary Poppins.
- The costume contest announcer's outfit bears a striking resemblance to Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog.
- After Becca receives Book, the Sanderson Sisters and Billy vanish with magic, mimicking Olaf's death scene from Frozen II.
- Max, Dani, and Allison from the previous film appear for a brief moment, albeit all played by body doubles and seen at a distance. Though at present time, they do not appear.
- A deleted scene that was leaked during the recordings shows that the Sanderson sisters were going to hypnotize the Salem crowd before they started singing One Way or another, in this we see Winnie and her sisters ordering them to jump from one side to the other and then go around. This is briefly seen in the final edited scene where some in the crowd are seen in the background finishing the turn Winnie ordered them to. This would explain why the contestants obeyed Winnie when she ordered them to leave the stage without complaining, as well as why the band played the music when Winnie ordered them to, as well as why the band members showed a face and movements of being in a sort of of trance.
- They may have used the Ah-say-into-pie Oppa-maybe-uppen-die part of the lyrics to hypnotize the crowd, since the song on the movie's official soundtrack does not mention this part in the lyrics and shows that the lyrics cut was longer, this is reinforced, since there are other leaked scenes where they show the sisters doing movements in their dance on stage not seen in the song scene. In addition, when they say this part of the song, the stage is slightly more illuminated and the blue is lighter, since when Winnie shouts Sisters, the stage behind is less illuminated, which reinforces this theory.
- This would show that this part of the song is the main spell to hypnotize people with a song, as this part of the lyrics is part of the song "I Put a Spell on You", from the original movie.
- Sarah and Mary Sanderson disappearing is a reference to another Disney movie, Marvel Avengers: Infinity War, which after Thanos used the infinity gauntlet where half of everyone on earth disappears.
- The ending where Becca and her friends are walking they move like the Sanderson sisters, hinting a Hocus Pocus 3 movie, A black cat (Binx) runs by a box says Hocus Pocus 3.
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