Hocus Pocus 3 Is Happening — and It’s Heading to Theaters

Another glorious morning, witches. After years of false starts, salary standoffs, and executive shuffles, Hocus Pocus 3 is officially back in the cauldron. Deadline confirmed that Disney Live Action Studios has the threequel in early development, with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy all signed on to reprise their roles as Winifred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson. And in the biggest news of all: this one is headed to theaters.

That’s a major shift from Hocus Pocus 2, which debuted exclusively on Disney+ in September 2022. The sequel was a monster hit by streaming standards — it set a Disney+ record with 2.7 billion minutes of viewing in a single week, became the platform’s most-watched movie premiere domestically, and finished as the fifth most-streamed film of the entire year. By almost every measure, it was a success. But Disney is clearly betting that a third film can do even more damage on the big screen.

Three Years in the Making — and Then Some

The road to Hocus Pocus 3 has been anything but smooth. Sean Bailey, then-President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, first announced the project was happening in a 2023 New York Times profile. But Bailey stepped down from his role in 2024 amid a broader leadership shake-up at Disney, and the project essentially went dark. For fans who’d been waiting on brooms, it started to feel like another decade-long wait was coming.

The stars themselves were keeping the hope alive, even when the updates were slim. Speaking on Watch What Happens Live! in July 2025, Parker was candid about where things stood: “There are no more developments other than we would like to do it. We’ve been having some conversations.”

Then, last October, Midler gave fans something more concrete. “Well, you know, they sent a script. And a lot of it was brilliant,” she told Andy Cohen during another Watch What Happens Live! appearance. “So, I got very excited. And now we’re trying to figure out what it is and where it’s going to be and how much it’s going to cost and all those logistical things.”

Those logistical things — namely, salary negotiations — have since been resolved, according to Deadline. Midler, Parker, and Najimy have all agreed to new deals. The project is now being overseen by Disney Live Action EVP of Production Jessica Virtue.

Midler had actually been nudging Disney publicly for a while. Back in 2024, she told Busy This Week that she’d “heard rumblings” about a script but hadn’t seen it yet — and added with a laugh, “I think if they’re gonna, they oughta, because time is not just marching. Time is barrel-assing to the finish line. Get us while we’re still breathing, I mean, God!”

What Could the Story Look Like?

No plot details have been officially confirmed, but screenwriter Jen D’Angelo — who wrote Hocus Pocus 2 — has been working on ideas, and she’s already dropped a pretty exciting hint about where things could go. “We’ve been working on some ideas, and it’s been fun to dive back into that world,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “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.”

Waddingham, best known as Rebecca Welton on Ted Lasso, played the powerful Mother Witch in the sequel — a character who shapeshifted into a crow and whose presence was teased again in the film’s final moments. A post-credits scene also showed a box labeled “Black Flame Candle #2,” which felt like a very deliberate wink at what’s coming next.

As for the rest of the Hocus Pocus 2 cast — Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, Lilia Buckingham, Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, and Doug Jones as the beloved Billy Butcherson — no announcements have been made about their involvement. And fans of the original 1993 film have long hoped for the return of Omri Katz, Thora Birch, and Vinessa Shaw, whose characters were notably absent from the sequel. “We weren’t invited to that meeting,” Katz said during a 90s Con panel. “I think the fan base really wanted to see something with us.” A third film could be the chance to make that right.

According to the film’s IMDb page, Hocus Pocus 2 director Anne Fletcher is listed as returning for the third installment, though Disney hasn’t officially confirmed her involvement.

Why a Theatrical Release Is the Right Call

Here’s the thing: the streaming numbers for Hocus Pocus 2 were extraordinary. It was the most in-demand “horror” movie in the U.S. during its debut weekend and earned three Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Television Movie. Any studio would look at those numbers and feel good about what they had.

But theatrical returns — and the cultural moment that comes with a wide release — are a different kind of win. Getting audiences into seats for a Halloween movie with this kind of built-in fan love could do serious box office business, and it sends a signal that Disney sees the Sanderson Sisters as more than a streaming play. The franchise has already proven it can command attention. A theater run would let it own the Halloween season in a way that a streaming drop simply can’t.

The original Hocus Pocus famously flopped when it opened in theaters in 1993, earning less than $50 million worldwide and landing a 42% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. It took years of Disney Channel airings and home video rewatches to build the cult following that made the Sanderson Sisters into Halloween icons. The franchise has come a long way from those humble beginnings — and a theatrical release for the third film would complete a kind of full-circle moment for a series that was never supposed to be this beloved.

No release date or production timeline has been set yet. But the brooms are dusted off, the deals are done, and the script — at least part of it — has already been called “brilliant” by the woman who’d know best. The Sanderson Sisters are coming back, and this time, they’re coming for the big screen.