I’ll Put A Spell On You: Hocus Pocus Remake
Released in 1993, Hocus Pocus is an American comedy horror film. It follows the Halloween night of three evil witches that inadvertently resurrected by a virgin teenager in Salem Massachusetts. Although upon its release it was not necessarily a commercial success, it has withstood the test of time and has become a cult film with annual airings on Disney Channel and Freeform during the Halloween season.
Now, if you’ve never seen or heard of the classic film Hocus Pocus, I respectfully ask that you exit this page, watch it, and then come back. Actually, even if you’ve already seen it, go watch it again and come back. It’s almost October so it’s appropriate. The rest of this will be a whole lot more meaningful to you.
As much as we all love the mechanical cat and the original Sanderson Sisters with the ruthless leader, slightly sexy bimbo, downright stupid sidekick, it appears that it’s time for a makeover.
It was first reported by Deadlinethat Disney is bringing the Sanderson Sisters back to Salem in a new remake of the 1993 cult classic. It has been announced that the new film will be written by Scarlett Lacey, a writer from the show The Royals, and will be made as a TV movie.
Already in the early stages of development, the film has been described as a “re-imagining” of the original, with Dave Kirschner a producer from the original film now taking the position as executive producer. However, unfortunately, the original director Kenny Ortega will be absent as well as the original cast.
Rumor of either a remake or a sequel have been buzzing around for almost as old as the witches in the film, and actress Bette Midler jokingly says it’s because Disney is having a difficult time finding a virgin. Former writer Mick Garrison mentioned that Disney might be doing a remake, which prompted the official confirmation.
However, the film is being recast even though the original witch trio has been very vocal about their willingness to do a sequel. Sarah Jessica Parker stated, “I would love to do a sequel, I think we’ve all been fairly vocal about being very keen, but that hasn’t created any groundswell of movement.”
Upon confirmation of a re-make, the internet did not take the news lightly. Mass amounts of tweets on Twitter are demonstrating outrage at the notion of the remake without the original cast claiming that it’s already perfect and that nobody can top Bette Midler’s performance.
The new Sanderson Sisters have some pretty big broomsticks to fill, but if it doesn’t meet the fans expectations, we can always rummage through our old VCR collection and watch the original.