Movies
Thora Birch Talks ‘Hocus Pocus’ Sequel for Disney+; “I’m Excited for It”
It was announced late last year that a sequel to Hocus Pocus was in the works for the streaming service Disney+, with Jen D’Angelo hired to write the screenplay. From what we gather, the plan is to figure out a way to bring the Sanderson sisters back, but at this time we don’t yet know if Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy will be returning.
All three stars of the 1993 film seem hungry to get back to Salem, Massachusetts for the sequel, and Thora Birch reveals in a new chat with Hollywood Life that she’s open to it as well.
“I’m excited for it,” Birch told the site. “They’ve been talking about this reboot for five years. I’m excited to see what it all looks like. I know a little bit about a couple of ideas for stories, but I don’t know where it’s all going to fall at the end of the day.”
The actress continued, “If they would have me [I’d come back], depending on [the storyline]. I’m sure Dani’s not going to be selling crack in an alley anywhere, so I’m pretty open minded.”
Birch played Dani Dennison in the original Kenny Ortega-directed film, one of the children who’s terrorized on Halloween by the Sanderson sisters, a trio of powerful witches.
In the meantime you can check out Thora Birch in Lucky McKee’s new film Kindred Spirits, a crazy fun Lifetime movie that can be rented digitally for just $1.99 on Amazon!
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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