People
Bette Midler Assures She’s on Board (Er, Broom) for New Hocus Pocus Movie
By Jen Juneau
November 01, 2019
Mister D: I am still a doubting Thomas because of the last paragraph and the quiet rationale of Kathy Najimy
‘Tis time for the Sanderson sisters to ride again!
At Bette Midler‘s annual Hulaween event in New York City on Thursday night, Entertainment Tonight chatted with the multifaceted legend about whether she would be reprising her role as Winifred Sanderson in the recently announced follow-up to her 1993 classic Halloween film, Hocus Pocus.
“Oh my goodness me. Oh I hope they get to me before I’m a corpse,” joked Midler, 73, who was dressed as classic Hollywood legend Mae West for Halloween. “We wanna fly again. I hope Disney+ is a big success and I hope we get to do it, because [Winnie] is, of course, one of my favorite characters.”
The Emmy, Tony and Grammy winner went on to say she and her fellow “sistahs” — Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy — always chat and “laugh” about their memories from the movie whenever they see each other: “We say, ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be great if?’ Because all of us had pretty much the same experience on it.”
ET also spoke to Najimy, 62, at the event, where she admitted she “heard about [the new movie] online the same time as [everyone else]” and that the “honest answer” about her joining the cast is that “Sarah and Bette and I all have a million projects and things that we’re into, so I don’t know if they’re gonna offer us [roles].”
“I don’t know if the worlds are going to collide so that we could all three do it at the same time. … But I’m happy that it’s happening because the fans are really rabid and they really want it,” she added, smiling. “[And] if we’re not all available to star in it, I think it would be so great to do a cameo. I think that’d be really fun.”
Parker, 54, gave fans even more of a reason to get excited in an Instagram post on Thursday, sharing a photo of the three women in the movie during the “I Put a Spell on You” musical number scene.
“We have all said yes. Now we wait,” she responded to a fan who asked about the “chance of a sequel.”
Sarah Jessica Parker’s Instagram comment 1SARAH JESSICA PARKER/INSTAGRAM
From L to R: Kathy Najimy, Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker in Hocus Pocus (1993) DISNEY/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK1
In the 1993 original version, Midler, Najimy and Parker star as a trio of sister witches who, after being accidentally resurrected on Halloween by a virgin who lights the Black Flame Candle, set out to suck the life out of children in Salem, Massachusetts, to undo the curse that sent them away 300 years previously.
The film was a flop at the box office when it was first released, but became a favorite among families over the years thanks to countless re-airings on television. This year alone, it was scheduled to air a whopping 27 times during Freeform’s annual “31 Nights of Halloween” movie lineup.
Last week, multiple outlets confirmed that Disney was developing a follow-up to the cult classic film (which also starred Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw, and Omri Katz) for its upcoming Disney+ platform, written by Workaholics writer and co-producer Jen D’Angelo.
With no stars officially confirmed, it is not known whether the project will be a direct sequel to the original film or whether it will be a reboot, with a new set of characters.
When this film was first released Bette Midler (and Sarah Jessica Parker) were totally shocked at and critical of the final cut. Most of their performance was cut out and they really had no idea it would turn out like it did…it was originally geared as a project for their adult fans in the tradition of “WITCHES OF EASTWICK” but ultimately became and was released as a bona fide family flick. However, it was actually cool and even cutting edge in the hearts and minds of the kids in America (the best demographic ever and hard to please…just look at Bette’s lack of radio airplay throughout her recording career despite being more than “radio ready” and having the best female singing voice on record) thanks to Bette and her two co-stars and the contribution of its final editors…so it is now legendary! I am quite proud of how it became a classic after all the dust settled…oh and it was not considered an absolute flop at the box office either…it had a respectable weekend opening and was far more successful the “FOR THE BOYS” which preceded this release by a year or so…
And as far as I can see it made profit that year, too