city Salem: Last News

, the long-awaited sequel to the 1993 Halloween classic.Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker reprise their roles as Winnifred, Mary and Sarah Sanderson, respectively, in the new film, which finds the trio resurrected once again by a group of teen friends — Becca (Whitney Peak), Cassie (Lilia Buckingham), and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) — who light a new version of the infamous Black Flame Candle.However, when they return to wreak havoc on Salem — this time seeking revenge on the town's mayor, a descendant of the puritanical reverend who originally exiled them (both played by Tony Hale) — they find that a few things have changed.For one, the Sanderson Witch Museum has been reopened as a magic shop, run by a man named Gilbert (Sam Richardson), who claims to have witnessed the witches' first night of mayhem back in the '90s. But that's far from the only callback to the original.

Hocus Pocus 2″ is the long awaited sequel to the 1993 original. A financial failure when it was first released, the film has since become a much beloved cult classic, celebrated, quoted and imitated in costume by faithful fans including this writer.

Sigourney Weaver and Morena Baccarin are stepping out to promote their new movie!

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The Salem witch sisters are back for a straight-to-streamer reunion this week with the release of “Hocus Pocus 2,” the highly anticipated sequel to the 1993 cult classic. The reboot arrives on Disney+ on Friday, Sept. 30. Bette Middler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy reprise their roles as the Sanderson sisters in the reboot, nearly three decades after their fabulously flamboyant performances turned what was expected to be a typical comedy with fleeting success into a campy cult favorite that has become a Halloween staple for millions across the country. Read More: The ‘Hocus Pocus’ Sequel Has Created Some Truly Insane (And Inspired) Merch

out on Disney+ 29 years later, is much, much worse.Running time: 104 minutes. Rated PG (action, macabre/suggestive humor and some language).

A “Hocus Pocus” Broadway musical is in the works.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic What strange sorcery is this that “Hocus Pocus” — a so-so comedy turned campy cult favorite starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as absolutely fabulous Salem witch sisters — should be getting a sequel nearly three decades after its 1993 release? At the time, Variety speculated that, were it not for the film’s three stars, “‘Hocus Pocus’ wouldn’t seem out of place on the Disney Channel, and perhaps belongs there.” (Its director, Kenny Ortega, would go on to helm the “High School Musical” franchise for the cabler.) In a sense, that’s what’s happened with this follow-up, aimed to breathe some life into the graveyard that is Disney+. The sequel’s existence owes less to popular demand (the original earned a respectable $39.3 million stateside and went on to become a Halloween season staple) than the realization that the film had tapped into preteens’ fascination with witchcraft before Harry Potter came along. It can be no coincidence that the new feature lifts so much of its look and feel from that franchise — with eye of newt, a dead man’s head and some aspects of “The Craft” tossed in for good measure. In “Hocus Pocus 2,” the three teens called upon to save Salem from the Sanderson sisters’ return are themselves budding witches, which means the movie is less about scaring kids away from magic than indulging their post-Potter junior wizarding fantasies.

Antonio Ferme editor Slow and steady wins the race — and in the case of “Hocus Pocus 2,” the Sanderson sisters are returning to seek revenge on Salem after 29 years. While Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy all reprise their roles as the three villainous witches in the sequel, there were some notable absences. For one, the main protagonists of the original film — Omri Katz’s Max Dennison and Vinessa Shaw’s Allison Watts — don’t appear in the movie. During the “Hocus Pocus 2” worldwide premiere on Tuesday in New York City, screenwriter Jen D’Angelo shed a light of hope that Max and Allison could return for a potential third installment.

It was a family affair for Sarah Jessica Parker at the “Hocus Pocus 2” premiere Tuesday night. Parker hit the red carpet for the first look at the long-anticipated sequel with her husband, Matthew Broderick, and their twin daughters Tabitha and Marion, 13.

Naman Ramachandran Cinedigm has acquired all North American rights to horror film “The Outwaters,” a throwback to the early days of the found footage genre. Written and directed by Robbie Banfitch, “The Outwaters” plays out over three memory cards found in a sun-drenched section of the Mojave Desert. The footage within is that of a foursome, who set out to make a music video while camping, led by a charismatic filmmaker. Their trip starts out uneventful, though their peace is occasionally disrupted by unexplained sounds, vibrations, and unnatural animal behavior. Then one night everything changes, sending the foursome on a mind-bending trip through terror.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent A trio of French films, the melodrama “A Family for 1640 Days,” political thriller “Goliath” and comedy “Adieu Paris,” are set to be released in the U.S. by the New York-based company Distrib Films. Both Fabien Gorgeart’s “A Family for 1640 Days” (“Une vraie famille”) and Edouard Baer’s “Adieu Paris” are represented in international markets by Le Pacte. “A Family for 1640 Days,” winner of the top prize at last year’s American French Film Festival, revolves around Simon, a six-year old adopted boy who is about to reunite with his biological father. The movie stars Melanie Thierry (“En therapie”) and Lyes Salem. Distrib Films is planning to release the film in early 2023 and have it play at festivals.

, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker felt like no time had passed at all!«As soon as we walked on the set, the dynamic between the three of us was exactly the same as it was 30 years ago,» Midler says in ET's exclusive look at a featurette for the upcoming film. «It was like these characters lived with us for the last 30 years… It was a real thrill.»«It was not a difficult transition to step back into those boots,» Najimy agrees. Set 29 years after the events of the first film,  will give fans a look at the backstory of the trio's Sanderson sisters -- which includes an ominous birthday present from an elder witch, played by Emmy winner Hannah Waddingham.«It's very special to be a part of something that has become so meaningful in people's lives,» Parker notes of returning to the cinematic universe.The sequel also sees the 17th-century sisters resurrected in the present day after high school friends in Salem — played by Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham and Belissa Escobedo — relight the Black Flame Candle and spark a whole new adventure. The cast also includes Sam Richardson, Tony Hale, Juju Brener, Froy Gutierrez, Taylor Paige Henderson and Nina Kitchen.ET spoke to Richardson at the Independent Spirit Awards in March, where he gushed over the «surreal experience» of joining some of the original cast for the film's second installment.«It was incredible.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Universal Music Publishing Group has named Jennifer Knoepfle executive vice president and co-head of US A&R, effective immediately, the company announced on Wednesday. Based in Los Angeles, Knoepfle will report to UMPG chairman-CEO Jody Gerson. According to the announcement, Knoepfle — who joins after 13 years at Sony Music Publishing, where she worked with Gerson — will work closely with David Gray, her fellow co-head of U.S. A&R, and the company’s team. Knoepfle was most recently senior VP of creative at Sony Music Publishing, where she had worked since 2009. During her tenure, she signed and/or developed such major writers as Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner, Dan Nigro, Ariel Rechtshaid, Bloodpop, Joel Little and artists including Willow, Tate McRae, King Princess, Remi Wolf, Maggie Rogers, Leon Bridges, Wallows, Salem Ilese, Noah Kahan and Lord Huron. She also has worked extensively with

SATURDAY AM UPDATE: With the exit of New Line’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot in what has been a lucrative post Labor Day weekend pre-pandemic, Disney swooped in and booked its 20th Century Studios horror title Barbarian. That pic, directed and written by Zach Cregger, follows a woman staying at an Airbnb, who discovers that the house she has rented is not what it seems. The movie grossed $3.8M on Friday (including $850K Thursday night previews) and is poised to make around $9M, possibly double digits.

! Disney unveiled the first official trailer from the long-anticipated sequel, starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, during their D23 Expo event on Friday.In addition to Midler, Parker and Najimy, Doug Jones, who plays Billy Butcherson, also reprises his role in the upcoming sequel.Set 29 years after the events of the first film,  sees the 17th-century sisters resurrected after high school friends relight the Black Flame Candle and spark a whole new adventure. Now, it’s up to these students to put a stop to the witches once again.ET previously reported that the film will «see three young women accidentally bringing 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.»Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham and Belissa Escobedo play the present-day Salem students who incite the wrath of the three witches.

Michaela Zee editorDisney has released the official trailer for “Hocus Pocus 2,” in which the Sanderson sisters will once again put a spell on you. The new trailer debuted at the D23 Expo with an introduction from Disney Chairman Alan Bergman. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy and Doug Jones are reprising their roles from the original 1993 film. Hannah Waddingham, Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, Lilia Buckingham, Belissa Escobedo and Whitney Peak also star in the sequel, along with “Drag Race” queens Ginger Minj, Kahmora Hall and Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté. 

Disney has revealed the first trailer for Hocus Pocus 2 at the D23 Expo in Anaheim tonight (September 9).The new movie, which will see original stars Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker return, will arrive on Disney Plus on September 30.The sequel will also introduce new characters, including one played by Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham, as the trailer reveals.The trailer begins with a priest banishing the three young witches, who grow up to be Midler, Najimy and Parker’s characters, from Salem and meeting Waddingham in the woods. “They were right to fear thee,” she tells them.Happily never after.#Disenchanted, an Original movie, starts streaming November 24 on @DisneyPlus.

Winnie, Sarah and Mary find their way into an unlikely place – a grocery store – in the brand new trailer for Hocus Pocus 2!

Three years after the now-infamous Starbucks cup incident on the final season of Game of Thrones, the prequel series House of the Dragon has its own unfortunate gaffe, just three episodes in.Many fans noticed towards the end of the third episode - Second of His Name - that Paddy Considine was still wearing a green glove to hide two missing fingers of his character King Viserys Targaryen.Photos of the green glove went viral on social media after Sunday's episode, with HBO telling The Hollywood Reporter that the episode will be corrected with the new version arriving on streaming platforms this week. The moment happens just at the start of a new scene in the 45th minute of the episode, where Viserys hands a scroll to Ser Addam (Oscar Salem), telling him to 'make haste' and deliver it to Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) in Dwarfstone.While the scene is fairly trivial in the grand scheme of the episode, the digital effects artists failed to remove Visery's pinky and ring fingers, which had green covering on them so VFX artists could remove them in post-production.

EXCLUSIVE: Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) has signed on to star alongside Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans in Prime Video’s holiday event film currently titled Red One, from director Jake Kasdan (Jumanji franchise).

We can’t believe Hocus Pocus 2 is really happening after all these years! We’re finally going to see the Sanderson Sisters (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) again as they return to wreak more havoc on Salem.