Hocus Pocus star Jason Marsden has shared why the 2022 sequel didn't bring back several fan-favorite characters.
The voice actor recently reunited with his Hocus Pocus co-stars Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw and Omri Katz for a panel discussion about the iconic 1993 Disney movie at 90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut, which was moderated by People. After being asked by a fan why none of them returned for Hocus Pocus 2, Marsden explained that the final say on casting ultimately came from the higher-ups at the Mouse House. "I did speak with Mr. David Kirschner, [who created and produced the film]. He said he did try to fight to get you three especially," Marsden said, referring to Birch, Shaw and Katz. "But there's a committee. It's a team. It's an IP now — intellectual property. It's close to your hearts, but it belongs to a committee now. And so it's left up to them to make the right decisions."
Directed by Kenny Ortega, Hocus Pocus follows teenager Max Dennison (Katz) as he inadvertently resurrects a trio of witches known as the Sanderson Sisters (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) on Halloween night in Salem, Massachusetts. Marsden provided the voice of Thackery Binx's cat form, while Birch and Shaw portrayed Max's little sister and love interest, respectively. Although Hocus Pocus was not a box office success, the film has since become a cult classic thanks to annual airings on Disney Channel and Freeform throughout October. A sequel was announced in 2019 and released on Disney+ in September 2022, with Midler, Parker and Najimy reprising their roles from the 1993 film. Doug Jones also returned for Hocus Pocus 2 as Billy Butcherson.
Katz Has an Idea for a Sanderson-less Third Film
In October 2022, Katz revealed that he had an idea for a third Hocus Pocus film, one that would bring back the now-adult child stars but not the Sanderson Sisters. He pitched an adaptation of author A.W. Jantha's 2018 book, Hocus Pocus & the All-New Sequel, which featured adult versions of Max and Dani (Birch) once again dealing with the Sanderson Sisters. However, Katz believes an adaptation of the novel is possible without the iconic witches. "Who's to say there has to be continuity in terms of the story? You can create any story," he said. "If they were to take the book and turn it into a screenplay, it doesn't have to be the witches coming back, they can just do whatever they want, and people will be stoked to see it regardless."
Hocus Pocus 2's Record-Breaking Premiere
Although Hocus Pocus 2 spent nearly 20 years in development hell, fans still came out in droves to support the film during its premiere weekend on Disney+. Following the 2022 film's Sept. 30 release, Disney announced that the long-awaited sequel had become the #1 film to premiere on Disney+ domestically to date. A month later, Nielsen revealed that the film had also surpassed Encanto to set a new record for total streaming minutes for a movie. Hocus Pocus 2 drew in more than 2.7 billion minutes of viewing from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, 2022, beating Encanto's previous record of 2.2B minutes from Dec. 27, 2021, to Jan. 2, 2022. However, despite Hocus Pocus 2's record-breaking premiere, Disney has yet to greenlight a third film in the beloved fantasy franchise.
Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 are both available to stream on Disney+.
Source: People