Something wicked this way comes. And that something is the Sanderson Sisters, back in Salem to run amok once again in Hocus Pocus 2.
Early last year, Disney announced a sequel to the 1993 children’s classic Hocus Pocus, beloved by millennials and zoomers alike. And after much anticipation and teasing on SJP’s Instagram, there is now an official trailer and release date.
Prior to the trailer, not much was known about the direction the sequel would take, though presumably it would have to include a virgin lighting the black candle on Halloween in order to reawaken the troublesome trio. And that it does. But the circumstances surrounding the fateful lighting are a bit different this go-round.
Whereas the 1993 kids who brought the Sanderson Sisters back to life were more or less non-believers in anything otherworldly, the youths who summon the witchy trio in 2022 are a bit witchy themselves. Leaning into current social trends that embrace Wicca, gothiness, and just in general dressing like Stevie Knicks year round, Hocus Pocus 2 has at its core a set of female friends who seem to be witch-curious at the very least.
And it can’t be overlooked that Gen Z’s fascination with all things witchy and macabre likely sprung from multiple viewings of, what else, the 1993 Hocus Pocus. (Along with the iconic 1996 teen witch film The Craft, which also got its own update recently.)
Hocus Pocus 2 is trending
Instagram fully embraces the aesthetic of the White Witch (Knicks) while astrology and herbology reign supreme as guiding forces in the lives of millennials and Gen Z.
And in the past three decades, Salem, a once sleepy hollow, has become a booming tourist town catering to seekers of spooky. This influx is in no small part due to the film’s popularity, with kids and parents alike roaming the small town dressed all in black seeking out landmarks from the film to populate their Instagram.
It’s a classic tale of art influencing life and life then influencing art, bringing culture full circle all the way back to three sinister sisters with a taste for children’s souls. Here’s hoping Hocus Pocus 2 truly is double the toil, double the trouble.
Hocus Pocus 2 will premiere on Disney+ on September 30th, meaning lots of time for re-viewings before the high holiday.
Original stars Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker are back as the Sanderson sisters with new blood Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, and Belissa Escobedo as the witch-wannabes who inadvertently summon the darkness.
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