With the WGA strike now in the rearview mirror, writer Jen D'Angelo has updated Entertainment Weekly on the status of Disney+'s Hocus Pocus 3.
Hocus Pocus 2 was released on Disney+ on September 30, 2022, nearly thirty years after the release of the 1993 film. The following month, Disney announced that the sequel was the streaming service's most-viewed film premiere to date. It's currently nominated for 3 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Sean Bailey, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, revealed in June 2023 that a third film is in development and will be released on Disney+. Anne Fletcher will be back to direct with D'Angelo writing.
Speaking to EW, D'Angelo remarked, "We're still in the story phase, we're still working on it. We've been working on some ideas, and it's been fun to dive back into that world and we have so many directions in which to go and so many new characters to explore. We've only scratched the surface of Hannah Waddingham's mother witch."
"I'm hoping that we are able to explore every aspect of these stories and take these characters on a bunch of fun adventures. 3 is still very much in the early stages, we don't really know what it is, but we're exploring all options and I think everybody is so delighted by the reaction that Hocus Pocus 2 got, and we're excited to continue those stories."
The Hocus Pocus franchise has a hardcore fan following and they were very critical of the fact that the sequel did not bring back certain actors from the first film.
De'Angelo stated that she certainly wants to make the fans happy in the next installment, but the film can't exclusively focus on satisfying their list of wants to the detriment of the film's narrative.
"I want to do right by the fans and I definitely want to keep in mind what they want to see, but, at the same time, I feel like movies can go slightly awry when they're only catering to the fans and trying to check off a list, like, 'We got this and this, so the fans should be happy.' In reality, you want to make sure that the movie is solid on its own, and the fan service moments are baked into the story and that they're satisfying and not just tacked on."
There's currently no release date in place for Hocus Pocus 3 and the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike certainly isn't helping the project move forward. However, recent reports indicate that the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA are nearing an agreement which could result in significant updates on the threequel.