Billy Butcherson actor Doug Jones explains why the news of HocusPocus2's development after several decades came as a pleasant surprise to him: 'I anticipated and hoped, but never thought...'
Doug Jones reveals that news of Hocus Pocus 2's development was a pleasant surprise when he was asked to return to play Billy Butcherson. Jones first portrayed the zombie in the original 1993 horror-fantasy comedy movie. Hocus Pocus 2 is scheduled to release on Disney+ on September 30, nearly three decades after the first film.
In the original Hocus Pocus, Jones portrayed the shambling, undead ex-boyfriend of Bette Midler's Winifred Sanderson, who poisoned and buried Butcherson with his lips stitched closed. Despite their past, Winifred and her sisters resurrected Billy as a zombie to help retrieve their spellbook from the hands of Max, Dani, Allison, and the boy-turned-cat Thackery Binx. Eventually, Billy turned on them to aid the children in vanquishing the Sanderson sisters once more.
The fans have been rumbling about it forever. But I was at the 20-year anniversary screening of Hocus Pocus nine years ago at the Disney lot. One of our producers, David Kirschner, was there talking with my makeup artist, Tony Gardner, and they were conversing about the sequel that they were pitching to the studio. That's when I realized, "Oh, it might actually happen," and then here we are nine years later, finally.
As Jones puts it, there has been talk of a Hocus Pocus 2 across all corners of the internet for years. Rumors and fan art can throw a person off, but they can also emphasize how slow progress is moving behind the scenes. After all, if fans can devise well-made art several times over before Disney has even announced the project, it's easy to believe the movie will never come to fruition.
Despite the long gap between the original film and the sequel, Hocus Pocus 2 is a highly anticipated release for Disney+, with the film potentially setting up future sequels should it meet Disney's expectations. While the original earned a place in audiences' hearts as a cult classic, Hocus Pocus was not a box office success during its initial release, making a sequel less likely despite gathering a strong fanbase as times passed.
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