'Hocus Pocus 2' Becomes Biggest Movie Debut Ever for Disney+ in the U.S.

The Sanderson Sisters continue to cast a spell on audiences.

Disney+ revealed Tuesday that Hocus Pocus 2 — which comes nearly 30 years after the 1993 original — became the streaming service’s No. 1 movie debut domestically to date. This is based on hours streamed in the first three days of its release (it premiered Friday).

Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy and Doug Jones returned for the sequel. The cast also includes Sam Richardson, Tony Hale, Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, Lilia Buckingham, Froy Gutierrez and Hannah Waddingham. Hocus Pocus 2 is directed by Anne Fletcher, who previously made 2009’s The Proposal and 2018’s Dumplin’.

RELATED: How Hocus Pocus 2 Connects to the Original Movie

Last week, Midler told PEOPLE that the cast and crew knew the story had more to give beyond the beloved first film.

“We all wanted to do it,” she said, noting that Parker was one of the people who really pushed to make it happen. “What we couldn’t understand was after the thing snowballed, we couldn’t understand, as we spoke together, we would often speak together, and [think] why don’t they ever give us a sequel?”

“It wasn’t like a crazy, aggressive push,” she continues. “It was just that we felt that it had a life outside of what it had had. And eventually 30 years later, they came to their senses!”

Matt Kennedy/Courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc. Kathy Najimy, Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker in Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

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Parker recently told Extra she would sign on for a third Hocus Pocus if Midler also joined the project.

“Bette is already starting rumors,” she said of a potential sequel. “I hitch my wagon to her star. If she wants to do a third one… No one says no to the Divine Miss M.”

Parker added that she didn’t think there would ever be a sequel — but Midler always thought it was possible: “Bette was the person who had this fervent wish that this would happen and could not be deterred from the idea. You should ask her, ’cause she will say, ‘Absolutely, I always imagined. I’ve been telling them for years.’ “

https://youtube.com/watch?v=idc0EOmKr30%3Frel%3D0

In July, Hocus Pocus 2 executive producer Adam Shankman told PEOPLE that Midler, Najimy and Parker “just fell right in” with each other on set of the sequel: “[It was] like a snap back in time, as if time had not [passed]. They were just laughing, laughing, laughing. … It was easy.”

Shankman noted that the original Hocus Pocus “was not a hit when it came out,” but eventually became “the juggernaut Halloween movie” due to it airing and streaming on various platforms each fall.

Both Hocus Pocus movies are now streaming on Disney+.

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