Double, double, toil and trouble, something remake-y this way comes. With adaptation and remake news abound, Disney is adding one more name to the pile: Hocus Pocus. The beloved Halloween classic from the 1990s is slated to be remade as a TV movie for the Disney Channel sometime in the near future, most likely for Halloween 2018.
The big news that has the Internet all in a tizzy is that, most likely, the film will be recast, and Kenny Ortega will not return to direct. The one saving grace is that David Kirschner, who co-wrote the original story and was the producer on the first film, will executive produce. Scarlett Lacey, best known for her work on The Royals, will be writing the new screenplay. The most likely reason for not re-casting the original Sanderson sisters, played by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker, was likely that Disney can’t afford them.
Rumors of a sequel or continuation have been circulating for the last few years as the film have risen to cult status. However, just because one can remake doesn’t mean one should, and in the case of this film, it seems unnecessary. The film gets a lot of airplay during Halloween, and its popularity only seems to grow with each passing year. Still, it will be interesting to see who they cast and how it will (or will not) live up to the original. For this Halloween at least, we’ve still got the original Hocus Pocus to satisfy our desire for cheesy laughs and witchy goodness.
