Since 1993 there's been one Halloween film that has united fans all genres of spooky movies - Hocus Pocus. And now the film is getting a reunion this Halloween.
Screened religiously throughout October (and possibly other times of the year), it's fun, funny and totally Halloweeny, without scaring the kids.
It follows the Sanderson Sisters (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) as they terrorise Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween.
Now, 27 years later, fans are getting what they wished for, a Sanderson sisters reunion - despite them being cast away into the spirit world at the end of the original Disney film.
Here's how and when you can watch it, as well as more news on the cast and where they are now.
When is the reunion?
It's the day before Halloween, on October 30. It's a Hocus Pocus 'Hulaween' takeover and will raise money for Bette Midler's charity, the New York Restoration Project, which supports green projects in the city.
It promises fun, spooks and devilishly delicious treats.
The three original witches will take part, as well as stars Thora Birch (Dani), Vinessa Shaw (Allison), Omri Katz (Max) and Doug Jones (Billy Butcherson), plus many more famous faces like Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Jennifer Hudson and Billy Crystal.
How do you watch it?
You have to buy a ticket as it won't be streamed in full anywhere else, proceeds do go to the NYRP and you can buy the tickets here, for $10 (about £7.50).
It will be streamed globally and will last an hour, and it starts at 8pm EST - around midnight GMT (which actually makes it an October 31 screening for us). Sadly it's just a one-time airing - that's the plan currently - but you never know they might repeat it in the future.
Better Midler posted from the set last week, on Twitter, and Sarah Jessica Parker also Instagramed the filming, commenting: "We laughed, made mischief and even sang a little song that might be familiar."
Meanwhile the original 1993 Hocus Pocus film is available to watch on streaming service Disney+. Fans can re-watch the Halloween classic as many times as they like with a subscription.
You can sign up for a free seven-day trial, then pay £5.99 per month or £59.99 per year once the free trial is finished. To find out more and to sign up go to www.disneyplus.com.
Where are the cast now?
The main three Sanderson sisters are all huge stars, of course, with Sarah Jessica Parker going on to mega stardom thanks to Sex And The City on the big and small screen. She's also appeared in TV show, Divorce, and movies The Family Stone, Failure to Launch and The First Wives Club since Hocus Pocus.
She, of course, starred opposite Bette Midler in The First Wives Club. Bette has been a passionate advocate for charities, supporting environmental causes and she established programmes to assist those affected by the 9/11 attacks. She is an outspoken opposer of Donald Trump.
On the career side, Bette's been busy, most recently starring in The Politician, The Addams Family animations, The Glorias and she is a highly successful singer.
Kathy Najimy has also worked constantly since Hocus Pocus, doing voiceovers on King Of the Hill, Robot Chicken, The Rocketeer. She's also been on Veep and the show Duncanville.
The three are also reunited for the big screen sequel to Hocus Pocus which is currently in re-production according to IMDB.
The rest of the cast have had varying successes.
Thora Birch, of course, went on to have a great movie career, starring in American Beauty, Ghost World, The Hole. Throughout the noughties she starred in many films, but recently the 38-year-old came back into the spotlight with roles in The Walking Dead and movie, The Last Black Man in San Fransisco.
Max aka Omri Katz was a recognised face from cult TV show, Eerie Indiana. After Hocus Pocus he had bit parts in TV shows like General Hospital and Freaks and Geeks.
Last year the 44-year-old posted a picture of some of the Hocus Pocus cast reunited, including Doug Jones, Vinessa Shaw, and Tobias Jelinek and Larry Bagby who played the caged bullies, Ernie and Jay. Omri is now an 'exotic craft cannabis cultivator' and works for The Mary Danksters.
Vinessa Shaw has had a constant string of roles since Hocus Pocus. Vinessa was recently on Ray Donovan, and she's been in movies 40 Days and 40 Nights, 3:10 to Yuma, horror Family Blood, Stag Night and TV shows Vegas, CSI:NY, House MD.
The 44-year-old shared on Instagram the confirmation of the sequel, back in October 2019.
Zombie Billy Butcherson was played by amazing mime actor, Doug Jones. Recently seen in the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water as the Amphibian Man.
Doug has a huge resume and it includes TV shows What We Do in the Shadows, Star Trek: Discovery, and Space Command.
And the other major player - Thackery Binks, well he wasn't real, the cat, but the actor who played the human Thackery, Sean Murray is best known for his long-standing role in NCIS. The 42-year-old has played Timothy McGee for 17 years .
Is there going to be a sequel?
According to Bette, yes! She said recently that the three original Sanderson sisters would be back: "They want to make a movie, they’ve asked us if we were interested and of course all of us said yes,” she toldFox 5 New York. “I’m game, I’m totally game.”
Hocus Pocus 2 has no release date information yet, but it is rumoured to be airing on Disney+ sometime in the future. Hairspray and Enchanted director, Adam Shankman is signed on to head up the production and confirmed as such on his Twitter account in March of this year.
You can watch the original Hocus Pocus movie in full on Disney+ now.
