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This 1993 Halloween Hit Is Climbing the Disney+ Charts
By Erick Massoto
Oct 22, 2024
Millennials blinked, and now one of their favorite movies from childhood is a Halloween classic. As the spooky season approaches, the 1993 fantasy film Hocus Pocus returns to dominate Disney+ charts. This past week, the movie starring Bette Midler (Beaches), Sarah Jessica Parker (And Just Like That), and Kathy Najimy (Sister Act) became one of the #9 most-watched titles on the Mickey Mouse platform.
Hocus Pocus tells the story of the Sanderson sisters, three witches who get resurrected by accident in Salem, Massachusetts, after a teenage boy inadvertently lights a cursed candle. Now, Max (Omri Katz) and his little sister Dani (Thora Birch) will have to find a way to send the three witches back to where they came from before they wreak havoc during Halloween. The comedy was directed by Kenny Ortega, who went on to helm other big titles such as Michael Jackson: This Is It and the High School Musical trilogy.
Suppose you look back on Hocus Pocus’ performance in the early 90s. In that case, you’d never call it a hit: The movie has a lackluster 40% approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes and failed to lure moviegoers into theaters, raking up only $51 million against a $28 million budget. However, the adventure ended up conquering a massive fanbase through reruns and became one of the favorite movies of an entire generation. Not by chance, Disney capitalized on the nostalgia and brought the franchise back almost thirty years later with Hocus Pocus 2 — once again starring Midler, Parker, and Najimy.
Hocus Pocus also featured a performance of an actor who became famous for his distinct full-body performance. In the movie, Doug Jones played Billy, one of the witches’ ex-paramour, who was poisoned and resurrected as a zombie three hundred years later. Jones went on to play other significant roles in major titles, like the title character and The Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth, Abe Sapien in Hellboy and Hellboy: The Golden Army, and Saru in Star Trek: Discovery.
Earlier this year, Midler spoke about Hocus Pocus 3 and revealed that she hasn’t seen a script yet, but joked that Disney should speed up production “while we’re still breathing.” Meanwhile, screenwriter Jen D’Angelo confirmed that the script is being written, but it’s taking its baby steps:
“We’re still in the story phase and working on it. We’ve been working on some ideas. It’s been fun to dive back into that world, and we have so many directions to go and so many new characters to explore. We’ve only scratched the surface of Hannah Waddingham’s [‘Ted Lasso’] mother witch.”
You can stream Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 on Disney+.
