Hocus Pocus 2 Set Photos May Confirm The Sequel's Working Title
Someone in Rhode Island must have spoken the ancient incantation "Solaten omnes saculorem tuba nriirum est," because a Black Flame has been lit on the set of the Disney+ sequel "Hocus Pocus 2," which is now filming in The Ocean State (subbing for Massachusetts). As it happens, Providence resident and Instagram user Mike Ferguson happened to be strolling along by the set when he snapped some photos of the Sanderson Sisters' trailers only to uncover the new movie's potential working title: "Black Flame."
This is not exactly a shocker, as Disney's pre-filming announcement focused heavily on Black Flame imagery. As if you could possibly forget, the Black Flame was the very special black magic candle that brought the trio of Sanderson witches back from the dead in the original 1993 movie. Made from the fat of a hanged man, said candle is known to raise the spirits of the dead for 24 hours if lit by a virgin (i.e. Omri Katz's Max) on Halloween night during a full moon.
A True Winnebago
All those boxes got ticked, and the witches came back to raise hell, and it seems like something similar will be happening in the new movie which may be titled "Hocus Pocus 2: Black Flame" or something along those lines if these on-set photos are any indication. It's also possible that this is merely a production code name to keep all but tried-and-true fans from figuring out what's being filmed on the streets of Rhode Island.
Bette Midler ("The First Wives Club," "Beaches"), Sarah Jessica Parker ("Sex and the City," "Divorce"), and Kathy Najimy ("Sister Act," "Younger") are all set to return as Winifred, Sarah, and Mary, respectively in "Hocus Pocus 2, which is being helmed by Anne Fletcher ("Dumplin,'" "The Proposal") from a screenplay by Jen D'Angelo ("Workaholics") for a fall 2022 streaming debut. Besides the title trio and Doug Jones ("Star Trek: Discovery," "The Shape of Water") as the late rotting Billy Butcherson, other cast members include three young women (Becca, Cassie, Izzy) living in present-day Salem who bring about the wrath of the three witches, played Whitney Peak ("Gossip Girl," "Molly's Game"), Lilia Buckingham ("Dirt," "Crown Lake"), and Belissa Escobedo ("American Horror Stories," "The Baker and the Beauty"). The film will also feature Hannah Waddingham ("Ted Lasso," "Game of Thrones"), Tony Hale ("Veep," "Arrested Development"), Sam Richardson ("The Tomorrow War," "Good Boys"), Juju Brener ("Vanquish"), Froy Gutierrez ("Teen Wolf"), Taylor Paige Henderson and Nina Kitchen.
Here is the official synopsis:
It's been 29 years since someone lit the Black Flame Candle and resurrected the 17th-century sisters who were executed for practicing witchcraft, and they are looking for revenge. Now it is up to three high-school students to figure out how to stop the ravenous witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on Salem before midnight on All Hallow's Eve.