[UPDATED] Tina Fey Might Put a Spell on You as Producer of Disney’s Hocus Pocus Sequel

My brain cannot properly process this information.

First some background if this is the first you’re hearing of a Hocus Pocus sequel. Back in 2012, we reported on the possibility of Disney creating a follow-up to the Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy starring film called Hocus Pocus 2: Rise of the Elderwitch. At that point, no one knew if original director Kenny Ortega would be involved or, well, pretty much anything else. The only assumption being made was that the title suggested a new witch rising.

Fast forward to today, a report on The Tracking Board names none other than Tina Fey and her company Little Stranger as producers on the project, which they still say is a while away from us seeing on our screens. The site wrote in a previous report, “The aim for the two protagonist female leads is in the vein of Tina Fey and Melissa McCarthy. Though the original film dealt with 3 witch-sisters coming back on Halloween night, this story seems to focus on drawing different people together to fight a common evil.”

They now say they’re not sure if Fey will have a role in front of the camera, but she “joins producer Allison Shearmur and execs Bryan Oh, and Stephen Meinen from Allison Shearmur Productions, and execs and Jessica Virtue and Tendo Nagenda from Disney.”

As for any more specific details about this plot, they offer this: “The sequel will pick up years after the original, focusing on a housewife who is related to the Sanderson sisters, who teams up with a witch hunter to save her children after they run afoul of some resurrected witches while out trick-or-treating. No actors from the original film have been confirmed as returning for the sequel. In fact, no actors are yet attached to the project.”

Look, this has every chance to crash and burn like many projects trying to capture the nostalgia of the past but I really, really, really hope it doesn’t. I love hearing Fey is involved and with the right cast, it could be a great film on its own. What are your thoughts after hearing these new details?

[UPDATE] I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry. Deadline had this to say on the matter:

Disney is in early development with 30 Rock Golden Globe-winner Tina Fey on a supernatural-themed feature, but a knowledgeable source tells me it’s not the Hocus Pocus sequel that’s being wrongly buzzed about all over town. The film, currently known as Untitled Witch Project, will be produced by Fey and Cinderella producer Allison Shearmur in what’s described as falling in the vein of Ghostbusters, with Fey also attached to star. Sorry to break it to fans of the 1993 Bette Midler horror-comedy: No Hocus Pocus 2 project is currently in the works at the Mouse House – yet.

:(

(via SciFiNow)

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Jill Pantozzi

Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."

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