Market Realist
With “Hocus Pocus 2” on the Way, Bette Midler Is Still Bewitching Audiences
BY DAN CLARENDON
DEC. 22 2021
Midler has “Hocus Pocus 2” and “Family Jewels” in the pipeline
Yes, Bette Midler still reigns divine. Kennedy Center often bestows its honors on performers at the ends of their careers, but Bette Midler, one of this year’s recipients, is still very active in Hollywood. In fact, the Divine Miss M is teaming up with old costars for two upcoming movies.
The actress is reprising her role of Winifred Sanderson in Hocus Pocus 2, a Disney+ sequel to the 1993 fantasy comedy Hocus Pocus, with Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy returning as the other two witches in the trio of Sanderson sisters. “In Hocus Pocus 2, three young women accidentally bring the Sanderson sisters back to modern-day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on the world,” Disney says in a press release.
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an actress known for her performances in The Rose, Beaches, Hocus Pocus, and The First Wives Club and the singer of hits like “The Rose” and “Wind Beneath My Wings.”
Also Known As ‘The Divine Miss M’
Stage and screen actress, singer, songwriter, comedian
Net worth: $250 million (reported)
And ‘The People’s Diva’
Birthdate: Dec. 1, 1945
Spouse: Martin von Haselberg ?(m. 1984)
Children: Sophie von Haselberg (b. 1986)
Midler is also active on Twitter—perhaps too active for her PR reps’ tastes. The actress apologized on Monday, Dec. 20, after calling West Virginia “poor, illiterate, and strung out” in a tweet criticizing Sen. Joe Manchin (D–W. Va.) for his opposition to the Build Back Better bill. In any event, here’s more information on Midler’s career so far—which has earned her a net worth of $250 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth—as well as her in-development projects.
Midler has “Hocus Pocus 2” and “Family Jewels” in the pipeline
The actress is reprising her role of Winifred Sanderson in Hocus Pocus 2, a Disney+ sequel to the 1993 fantasy comedy Hocus Pocus, with Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy returning as the other two witches in the trio of Sanderson sisters. “In Hocus Pocus 2, three young women accidentally bring the Sanderson sisters back to modern-day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on the world,” Disney says in a press release.
Additionally, Midler is gearing up to shoot the comedy film Family Jewels with Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, with whom she starred in the 1996 comedy The First Wives Club. In that movie, Midler, Hawn, and Keaton’s characters are “forced to spend the Christmas holidays together, along with their kids and grandkids, after the man they were all once married to drops dead in a New York City department store,” according to Deadline.
Aside from her Kennedy Center Honors, Midler is one Oscar shy of EGOT status
The 76-year-old is just one Academy Award away from the coveted EGOT status, a designation for luminaries who have won at least one award at the Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards, the Oscars, and the Tony Awards. Midler has won three Emmys: for the 1977 special Bette Midler: Ol’ Red Hair is Back, her 1992 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and her 1977 special Bette Midler in Concert: Diva Las Vegas.
She’s the winner of three Grammys, having won Best New Artist in 1974, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1981 (for “The Rose”), and Record of the Year in 1990 (for “Wind Beneath My Wings”). Midler won Best Actress in a Musical at the 2017 Tony Awards for her performance in Hello, Dolly!, after previously earning a special Tony in 1974. She also won Golden Globes for her performances in the 1979 drama The Rose, the 1991 musical comedy-drama For the Boys, and the 1993 made-for-TV musical Gypsy.
I highly doubt that “Family Jewels” will ever see the light of day. In all the extensive media-coverage and in all recent interviews (Kennedy Honors) Bette never mentioned this project once. Plus, it is the same “team” that a few years back claimed to be making Divanation (or whatever that was called). Other than the big anouncement from the creators, there hasn’t been a single update (director, crew, etc). Been there, done that: thank you – next!