Movies
‘Hocus Pocus 2’ – Why Thora Birch Wasn’t Able to Return
A few years back, original Hocus Pocus star Thora Birch had expressed interest in returning for the sequel, which is now coming to Disney+ this Friday, September 30. Birch, however, isn’t back in Hocus Pocus 2 alongside the other legacy stars from the original classic, and the actress explains why in a new interview with Entertainment Tonight that went live this week.
The reason Thora Birch isn’t in Hocus Pocus 2? Scheduling issues.
Thora Birch tells Entertainment Tonight, “I was just a little dismayed I wasn’t able to make it. I was working on something else when they were filming. Otherwise I was definitely going to be there on set with the girls.”
“I can’t wait to see what they do with it,” Birch continues, “I know they’re taking a completely different, fresh approach, so I’m excited.”
A young Thora Birch played Dani Dennison in the original Hocus Pocus movie back in 1993, an 8-year-old girl who loves Halloween and ends up battling the Sanderson Sisters.
The new 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 Sanderson Sisters.
Doug Jones will also be returning as Billy Butcherson, seen in the latest trailer.
“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.
Fede Alvarez’s (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) Alien: Romulus will be unleashed in theaters nationwide on August 16, and Entertainment Weekly brings us two new images today.
The first image you’ll find below gives us another fresh look at the film’s Xenomorph, with Alvarez promising the outlet that it’s the most H.R. Giger-faithful Xenomorph of them all.
Entertainment Weekly writes, “… Alvarez promises [the Xenomorph’s design] is closer to H.R. Giger’s original creation than any other iteration.” The late H.R. Giger was of course integral to Ridley Scott’s Alien, designing the iconic monster the franchise is centered on.
The other image you’ll find below gives us a look at two of the human characters from Alien: Romulus, Archie Renaux’s Tyler and Cailee Spaeny’s heroine Rain Carradine.
Head over to Entertainment Weekly for their full preview of the upcoming film.
Here’s the full official plot synopsis for Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus, which comes in the wake of Disney reviving the Predator franchise in spectacular fashion with last year’s Prey…
“While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.”
Cailee Spaeny (The Craft: Legacy, Pacific Rim Uprising) leads the cast alongside Isabela Merced, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu.
Alien: Romulus takes place in between the first two films. It’s been described as “an original standalone feature,” one that “will focus on a group of young people on a distant world.”
Fede Alvarez co-wrote the script with Rodo Sayagues (Evil Dead). Ridley Scott is on board as producer for the film, the first movie in the franchise to be released by Disney.
Xenomorph in ‘Alien: Romulus’. 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS
(L-R): Archie Renaux as Tyler and Cailee Spaeny as Rain Carradine in ‘Alien: Romulus.’. 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS
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