• Hocus Pocus 3 is officially in early development at Disney Live Action Studios, per Deadline.
• Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy are all confirmed to return as the Sanderson Sisters.
• Unlike Hocus Pocus 2, the third film is being developed with plans for a theatrical release.
• Salary negotiations — previously cited as a holdup — have since been resolved.
• Screenwriter Jen D’Angelo has teased that Hannah Waddingham’s Mother Witch could be a major focus of the new story.

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.

The post Hocus Pocus 3 Is Happening — and It’s Heading to Theaters appeared first on Cream.

• Hocus Pocus 3 is officially in early development at Disney Live Action Studios
• Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy are all confirmed to return as the Sanderson Sisters
• Director Anne Fletcher and writer Jen D’Angelo from Hocus Pocus 2 are also coming back
• Unlike the sequel, this one is being developed with a theatrical release in mind
• Salary negotiations between the stars and Disney held up the project — those issues have now been resolved

Another glorious morning, indeed. After years of teases, salary standoffs, and one very promising script, Hocus Pocus 3 is officially in early development at Disney Live Action Studios — and Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy are all coming back to complete the trilogy.

Deadline broke the news, confirming that the full Sanderson Sisters trio will reprise their roles as Winnie, Sarah, and Mary. Hocus Pocus 2 director Anne Fletcher and writer Jen D’Angelo are also returning, giving the threequel a continuity of creative vision that fans will appreciate. Disney EVP of Production Jessica Virtue will oversee the project on behalf of Disney Live Action.

Plot details are being kept firmly under wraps for now. But there’s one piece of information that’s going to make fans very happy: unlike Hocus Pocus 2, which went straight to Disney+, this installment is being developed with a theatrical release component in mind. The streamer will almost certainly get it eventually — but the Sanderson Sisters may actually be coming to a movie theater near you.

A Long Road Back to Salem

The path to Hocus Pocus 3 has been anything but smooth. Disney first greenlit the project in June 2023, when former Walt Disney Studios president Sean Bailey announced it during a profile in The New York Times. But after Bailey’s departure from Disney in 2024, the film was left in limbo, and nearly three years passed with almost no official updates — leaving fans wondering if the coven had been cursed after all.

Then, in October 2025, Midler gave everyone a reason to hope again. She confirmed she’d seen a “brilliant” script for what would be the final chapter of the franchise, but said producers were still working out “all those logistical things” before they could move forward. According to Deadline, those logistical things came down to money — specifically, the salaries Midler, Parker, and Najimy would be paid. That hurdle has since been cleared, and here we are.

Just Jared also points out that the post-credits scene from Hocus Pocus 2 hinted that more magic could be on the way — a tease that, at the time, felt like it might never pay off. Now it does.

Why This Franchise Still Has a Spell on Everyone

The original Hocus Pocus — directed by Kenny Ortega and co-written by Mick Garris — was a box office disappointment when it opened in the summer of 1993. But decades of home video rentals, Disney Channel airings, and eventually streaming transformed it into one of the most beloved Halloween movies of all time. The Sanderson Sisters became cultural icons, spawning their own stage show at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World, themed photo ops at Disneyland Resort’s Oogie Boogie Bash, and an endless stream of seasonal merchandise that sells out every October.

When Hocus Pocus 2 finally arrived on Disney+ in September 2022 — 29 years after the original — it shattered records. The sequel racked up 2.7 billion minutes of viewing in a single week, setting a Disney+ streaming record and becoming the most-watched original film on the platform over its first three days of release. The appetite for more was undeniable.

The sequel also introduced a new generation of characters, with Hannah Waddingham, Belissa Escobedo, Tony Hale, and Whitney Peak joining the original trio. And while Hocus Pocus 2 didn’t end on a cliffhanger exactly, Deadline notes that stars from both films — including Thora Birch and James Marsden — have spoken openly about wanting to return. If this is truly the final chapter of the Sanderson Sisters’ story, bringing back some familiar faces would be exactly the kind of fan service this franchise has always delivered.

No release date has been set, and the project is still in its very early stages — Disney declined to comment given how early in development it is. But after years of waiting, the fact that all three sisters are locked in, the creative team is assembled, and the salary drama is behind them? This one feels real.

The Sanderson Sisters are coming back. And this time, they might just be coming to a theater near you.

The post Hocus Pocus 3 Is Happening With the Full Sanderson Sisters Trio appeared first on Cream.