Sam Richardson joins the cast of Hocus Pocus 2
Richardson joins a cast that includes original Hocus Pocus stars Kathy Najimy, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Bette Midler.
Aux News Sam Richardson
The cast of Disney’s long-in-the-works Hocus Pocus sequel officially jumped from “Oh, okay” to “Oh, okay!” today, with news that Sam Richardson is reportedly in talks to join the film. Given that Hocus Pocus 2 already features a confirmed return from Hocus Pocus 1 stars Kathy Najimy, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Bette Midler, you might think the Disney+ film already had everything a fan of the franchise might need for this continuation. But you’d be wrong, because it didn’t have Sam Richardson—until now!
Details about the film are still being kept fairly tightly under wraps—beyond “some people presumably lit that dang candle again, thus bringing the Sanderson sisters back to life”—so we won’t know for a while what role Richardson will be playing. (If we had to guess: Earnest, enthusiastic, a little dopey—and the funniest part of the film.) Specifically, we don’t know whether he’ll be able to continue his war against The Boneys, who, obviously, would side with the evil witches in their war for Salem, Massachusetts.
Hocus Pocus 2 has been in some form of development for years at this point, fueled by a whole generation’s semi-obsessive love for the pumpkin-flavored detritus and artifacts of its childhood. (Also: Kathy Najimy.) The production previously tried to get the movie going without Midler being involved, which is just, y’know, ludicrous, but apparently everyone involved came to their senses to ensure a full complement of Sandersons would be on hand.
Hocus Pocus got a strange second life last year; Disney dropped it back into the few open theaters in October of 2020, when it (briefly) became one of the top performing movies on the planet.
Richardson has had a typically excellent year; he had a small but memorable role on the recent Ted Lasso season, and starred in the enjoyable horror-comedy Werewolves Within.
22 Comments
definitely not a medium-talent piece of shit
So he’s going to be the kind of wacky but still straight-man character who says stuff like “So…you’re witches, huh?”
Who is asking for this?
Considering how popular Hocus Pocus has become, a lot of people.
Sure the original is a cult favorite around this time but I don’t think people watch it and think “What happens next?”
Did people watch The Terminator and ask “What happens next?” Did people watch Alien and ask “What happens next?”Alternatively, did people watch Men in Black and ask, “What happens next?”Sequels are made all the time. Some are good. Some are bad. Get over it.
I tried to respond to this a few different ways but its not worth it. There are a million reasons why Aliens and T2 made sense as sequels that Hocus Pocus does not. Its a 30 year old shitty movie that people in their 20s and 30s think they like because they saw it when they were 5 on Halloween.
There are a million reasons why Aliens and T2 made sense as sequels that Hocus Pocus does not.Name one. Its a 30 year old shitty movie that people in their 20s and 30s think they like because they saw it when they were 5 on Halloween.Well, if you didn’t like the original, odds are, you aren’t going to think it deserves a sequel. So fuck you, then.
Both were not box office flopsBoth were reviewed well by critics.
There are quite a few box office flops and movies that didn’t do well with the critics that still got sequels. Hocus Pocus has obviously made a lot of money over the years, so even it being a flop isn’t true, and it has also been critically reappraised.Try again. Or, rather, don’t.
I’ve never seen someone defend Hocus Pocus so much. I’m wondering if this is secretly Bette Midler’s account.
I’m not defending Hocus Pocus; I’m saying that the argument “who asked for this?” is a stupid fucking argument and should go die in a fire.
Also, here’s a video about what happened when Andrew Lloyd Webber asked “What happens next?” to The Phantom of the Opera:
Nope gonna have to agree with Nilus. This isn’t comparable at all to T2 (??). No one is asking for Hocus Pocus 2, least of all the cult fans from the past 30 years.
It’s comparable to any movie that gets a sequel. It’s getting a sequel because the original was popular. The end.
Most movies aren’t made by people asking for them. But it’ll probably bring in a lot of people who love the original.
I hope the new one embraces the weirdly adult themes of the original. One of the biggest problems I had with Girl Meets World was that it was aimed squarely at kids when the original was a family show. Totally neutered it.
I never watched Boy Meets World. But, I saw a number of Girl Meets World episodes because my kids were at the right age. That thing was tonally all over the place. Silly one minute. Super serious the next. In fact, constantly serious – didn’t these kids ever have a normal day? And it often felt like they were performing a play rather than a TV show.
I think the issue for me was that, while BMW was ostensibly about Cory as a High School to College kid, the older cast members often got A and B plots. We saw Alan and his insecurity at work, Eric’s academic struggles, Shawn and his relationship with his father, Mr Feeny and his legacy as a teacher.GMW focuses entirely on the wacky hijinks of a cast of grade schoolers with Cory and Topanga hanging out like props occasionally. I guess that limits the range and gravity of the types of plots they can do. They wanted to do some of the same hard hitting stuff BMW did, but because they’re doing it with pre-teens it all seems a bit less consequential.Also that Communism episode. What the hell decade did that come from?
Hocu2 Pocu2
Wokeus Pocus?
Man whoever lights that candle better get the Chump of the Week award