Movies
‘Hocus Pocus 2’ – First Look at the Return of Doug Jones as Billy Butcherson!
The witches are back in Hocus Pocus 2 this Halloween, coming to Disney+ on September 30, 2022, and the sisters will be joined by returning character Billy Butcherson!
Doug Jones (Hellboy, “What We Do in the Shadows”) is back as the undead character, and Entertainment Weekly has just shared our first look at Billy… almost 30 years later!
Jones tells EW in the preview piece linked above, “It is seamless between the first movie and the second, that’s the first thing I felt. It keeps the pureness and nostalgia alive and well for those who grew up with the first movie, and for any new fans we’re gathering now will be excited about modernization for the current time we’re in.
“Billy came back to me immediately, it was frightening how he’s been alive while I’ve been playing other characters all these years, but, Billy’s like, ‘I wanted my chance again.'”
The film is being billed as “the spooky sequel to the 1993 Halloween classic,” with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy all back as the beloved Sanderson Sisters.
“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.”
Anne Fletcher (The Guilt Trip) directed Hocus Pocus 2 for Disney+.
The cast includes Whitney Peak (“Gossip Girl,” “Molly’s Game”) as Becca, Lilia Buckingham (“Dirt,” “Crown Lake”) as Cassie, and Belissa Escobedo (“American Horror Stories,” “The Baker and the Beauty”) as Izzy, three young women in present-day Salem who incite the wrath of the three witches. Sam Richardson (Werewolves Within) will also star. “Arrested Development” favorite Tony Hale and “Ted Lasso” actress Hannah Waddingham have also both landed roles with Froy Gutierrez, Juju Brener, Taylor Paige Henderson, and Nina Kitchen.
The Kenny Ortega-directed 1993 movie starred Omri Katz as a curious youngster who moves to Salem, Massachusetts, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) that were executed in the 17th century. The film also starred Thora Birch, who will not return for the sequel, unfortunately.
Jen D’Angelo (“Workaholics”) wrote the sequel’s script.
Fear reached dizzying new heights in Lionsgate’s Fall, a survival thriller from the producers of 47 Meters Down that was released in August 2022. Its surprise success means there are not one but two sequels on the way, and today, the Spierig Brothers have been announced to direct Fall 2.
Michael and Peter Spierig (Lionsgate’s Jigsaw, Winchester, Daybreakers) are set to direct the sequel. Scott Mann, who directed and co-wrote the first film, is returning to co-write Fall 2 with Jonathan Frank.
In Fall, “For best friends Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner), life is all about conquering fears and pushing limits. But after they climb 2,000 feet to the top of a remote, abandoned radio tower, they find themselves stranded with no way down. Now, Becky and Hunter’s expert climbing skills will be put to the ultimate test as they desperately fight to survive the elements, a lack of supplies, and vertigo-inducing heights in this adrenaline-fueled thriller.”
It also starred Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen, “The Walking Dead”); Fall was produced & directed by Scott Mann (Final Score) and written by Mann and Jonathan Frank (Final Score).
Fall 2 and Fall 3 will bring back original characters from the first film, while also leaving room for new ones to be introduced. Mann will return to write and direct the third installment.
“We’re extremely excited to helm the second installment of this franchise and bring to life another nail-biting, vertigo-inducing thrill ride,” the Spierig Brothers said in a statement.
Mann added, “I am so proud to hand over the reins to the Spierigs, two highly respected genre directors whose addition will undoubtedly make this follow-up even more of a must-see experience than we already knew it would be. I can’t wait for Flawless to work alongside them and the rest of our fantastic filmmaking team to take the Fall franchise to epic new heights.”
Fall 2 will reunite producers Mark Lane and James Harris of Tea Shop Productions (47 Meters Down), Capstone’s Christian Mercuri, David Haring, and Scott Mann via the Flawless banner. Dan Asma, John Long, and Roman Viaris will also reunite as Executive Producers alongside Capstone’s Ruzanna Kegeyan.
Fall 2 is set to begin shooting in June 2024, so stay tuned.
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