Hocus Pocus

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About

Hocus Pocus is a 1993 family horror Disney film starring Bette Middler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy and directed by Kenny Ortega.

History

On July 16th, 1993, Disney released the film Hocus Pocus in theaters (trailer below).^[1]

Sequel

On September 28th, 2017, Deadline^[2] reported that Disney was developing Hocus Pocus reboot for the Disney Channel. Two years later, on October 29th, 2019, they^[3] reported that Disney was developing a sequel for the film for Disney+. They wrote:

The new film, now in early stages of development, will be written by TV writer producer Jen D’Angelo (Happy Together, LA to Vegas, Workaholics) It is unclear whether it will be a true sequel but there is hope that Midler, Parker and Najimy could reprise their roles in some shape or form.

Reunion

On October 20th, 2020, Hocus Pocus star Sarah Jessica Parker posted photos of the three stars on set for a cast reunion in support of the New York Restoration Project.^[4] The post received more than 314,000 likes in less than two days (shown below).

Reception

The film received negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, ^[6] the film received more a 37% rotten rating. In their critics consensus, the site writes, "Harmlessly hokey yet never much more than mediocre, Hocus Pocus is a muddled family-friendly effort that fails to live up to the talents of its impressive cast."

Over time, the film developed a cult following. On October 8th, 2020, Forbes^[5] published, "How A Critically Trashed Box Office Bomb Become Disney’s Most Popular Halloween Movie." They write, "Fandango is announcing that Hocus Pocus has been their most-watched Halloween flick on Vudu for the last five years in a row."