32 Years Later, Halloween Classic, Hocus Pocus Dominates Streaming Charts

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Collider
32 Years Later, Cozy Halloween Classic Dominates Streaming Charts Amid Sequel Rumors
By Ryan O’Rourke
Oct 11, 2025

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The spooky season is officially upon us, and many viewers are lighting the Black-Flame Candle once again to bring back the Sanderson sisters for the occasion. Hocus Pocus, the family-friendly Halloween mainstay, has soared back up the charts in anticipation of the spooky holiday, landing at #9 on Disney+’s international ranking, just ahead of Pixar’s Elemental and trailing Brad Bird’s beloved animated superhero hit, The Incredibles. Although originally a box office bomb for the House of Mouse, with icy reviews from critics to the tune of a downright dreadful 41% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it has since become synonymous with fall and a fan favorite, sporting a much better 72% mark with audiences. Much of that can be attributed to the three witches at the center of it all, played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy.

Hocus Pocus whisks viewers to Salem, Massachusetts, where, three centuries prior, the Sanderson sisters were all sentenced to hang for witchcraft. Before their deaths, however, the trio cursed the town to bring about their resurrection on a night when the full moon and All Hallows’ Eve align and a virgin lights the Black-Flame Candle. In the present, Max (Omri Katz), a sarcastic teenager stuck trick-or-treating with his younger sister Dani (Thora Birch), inadvertently fulfills the sisters’ requirements and unleashes them back onto Salem, where they aim to take over the town and get revenge for their deaths. With the help of his crush Allison (Vinessa Shaw) and the iconic talking cat Thackery Binx (Jason Marsden/Sean Murray), who was once cursed to live forever as a feline by the Sandersons, he and Dani race to stop them as they try to regain their youth.

Directed by Kenny Ortega with a screenplay by Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert, and a story courtesy of Garris and Emmy nominee David Kirschner, Hocus Pocus has a little bit of everything. From the witches themselves to the spooky aesthetic and the memorable zombie Billy Butcherson, played by Doug Jones, who had to hold actual live bugs in his mouth for the performance, it’s built a reputation as a surprisingly scary film for the whole family. The cult classic status of the film was enough to earn it a sequel on Disney+ in 2022, with all of Midler, Parker, Najimy, and Jones reprising their roles, though sadly without the original heroic trio of Katz, Shaw, or Birch. Though not as beloved as the first, it still earned a measure of redemption with a 65% Rotten Tomatoes score, including a B+ review from Collider’s Maggie Lovitt.

Will We Ever Get a ‘Hocus Pocus 3’?

Two years ago now, Disney had plans to create a Hocus Pocus 3 after the sequel had enchanted viewers on Disney+. Despite the confirmation, the cauldron is not yet bubbling on that project, if the updates from the stars are any indication. The most recent talk of the film came when Parker appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen back in July and confirmed there were “No more developments, other than that we’d love to do it.” Hocus Pocus 2 director Anne Fletcher and writer Jen D’Angelo were both expected to return for the witchy threequel when it does happen, with hopes of also bringing back more of the original stars for another tale of revenge against Salem.

Hocus Pocus is currently streaming on Disney+.

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