The D23 Expo is underway, celebrating 100 years of the Walt Disney Company. A bevy of trailers have been released, including those for the anticipated sequels to Enchanted and Hocus Pocus.
Featuring Broadway favorites both on and off the screen, check out the trailers below, and start preparing your popcorn for their fall debuts.
A satirical love letter to classic Disney animation, 2007's Enchanted featured Amy Adams as Giselle, a young maiden living in an animated, musical world that suddenly finds herself in real-life Manhattan. The long awaited sequel, Disenchanted, will follow Giselle and her motley crew (consisting of Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, and James Marsden) as she comes to terms with the not-so-magical reality of happily ever after.
Adam Shankman directs, with a script from Brigitte Hales, Richard Lagravenese, Scott Neustadter, and Michael Weber. Adams, Barry Josephson, and Barry Sonnenfeld produce. The title will premiere on Disney+ November 24.
Composer Alan Menken is also back and re-teaming with lyricist Stephen Schwartz for the film's new songs. The original film introduced such Menken-Schwartz songs as “Happy Working Song,” “That's How You Know,” and “So Close,” all three of which received 2008 Academy Award nominations. The film also included cameo appearances from the voice talent behind past Disney princesses, including stage favorites Judy Kuhn, Jodi Benson, and Paige O'Hara.
The Sanderson Sisters are back! Salem's baddest witches will return to the silver screen September 30 in a sequel to the 1993 favorite Hocus Pocus, titled Hocus Pocus 2.
The film reunites the original trio of Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker as the three sisters. The film follows three teenage girls who accidentally light the black flame candle and summon the spooky trio back to Salem—and possibly gain their own powers. Playing the new trio are Whitney Peak as Becca, Belissa Escobedo as Izzy, and Lilia Buckingham as Cassie.
Doug Jones, who played Billy Butcherson, has also returned, and is joined by Hannah Waddingham in a new role that is hidden under a veil of secrecy. The sequel will also feature a roster of up-and-comers, including Juju Brener, Froy Gutierrez, Taylor Henderson, and Nina Kitchen.
Hocus Pocus 2 is directed by Anne Fletcher. Adam Shankman, Ralph Winter, and David Kirschner are executive producers with Lynn Harris and Steven Haft as co-producers.
The 1993 original film, directed by Kenny Ortega, starred a different trio who lit the black flame candle. New-kid-in-town and skeptic Max Dennison, played by Omri Katz, lights the black flame candle to prove the town legends of the Sanderson sisters are just superstition. But when the witches return and begin to threaten the townspeople of Salem, its up to Max, his sister Dani (Thora Birch), and Max's crush Allison (Vinessa Shaw) to stop them. No word yet on if Katz, Birch, or Shaw appear in the new film.
