Midler shared a smoky silhouette of the Sanderson sisters on Instagram with the caption “Sisssstaaaahs…prepare thyselves. ‘Tis time.” The film was in early development as of May, which makes a production still unlikely this soon.
Bette Midler wants you to know the witches are coming back.
The actress, who has played Winifred Sanderson since 1993, posted an image to Instagram teasing Hocus Pocus 3. It shows the three Sanderson sisters in smoky silhouette, framed by heavy doors with circular ironwork.
Her caption: “Sisssstaaaahs…prepare thyselves. ‘Tis time.”
She tagged Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy.
Is Hocus Pocus 3 filming now?
The image has circulated as a first look from the set, but no filming announcement has been made.
In May 2026, Deadline reported Hocus Pocus 3 was “officially in early development” at Disney Live Action Studios. Early development means a script and attached talent, not cameras rolling.
The image is more likely promotional art than a photograph from filming. Midler’s post doesn’t claim otherwise, and she offered no plot details.
Disney has not commented.
What’s actually confirmed
All three Sanderson sisters are returning. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy were confirmed in May when Deadline reported the project had entered development.
Which doesn’t make sense given the ending of the second film.
The film is set up at Disney Live Action Studios.
Midler has said this will be the third and final film in the series.
The road here took three years
The project has moved slowly since Disney first said yes.
Disney greenlit Hocus Pocus 3 in June 2023. More than two years passed before Midler confirmed in October 2025 that she had read what she called a “brilliant” script.
The formal development announcement came in May 2026.
So: greenlit 2023, script read 2025, early development 2026. That’s the pace of a project Disney is being careful with rather than rushing.
The second one broke a Disney+ record
Hocus Pocus 2 premiered on Disney+ on Sept. 30, 2022, twenty-nine years after the original. It set a Disney+ streaming record at the time with 2.7 billion minutes of viewing in a single week.
That’s the number that made a third film inevitable.
Here’s hoping they get more of the original cast back and it’s better than the second film. Many fans were disappointed in it.
The first movie was a flop, but it has become a cult classic
The 1993 original was not a success. It opened in July, against summer competition, in a season nobody associated with Halloween, and it underperformed.
It became a cult classic through television. Years of October cable reruns turned a commercial disappointment into an annual tradition, and eventually into one of Disney’s most reliable Halloween properties.
The sequel took 29 years to happen. The third film is arriving considerably faster.
The Sandersons are all over the parks right now
The witches have become a fixture of Disney’s Halloween programming.
They headline the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular, which runs exclusively during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. They also anchor their own merchandise line at Walt Disney World this season.
For Disney, the trio functions less like a movie franchise and more like a seasonal property that happens to produce films occasionally.
What hasn’t been announced
Nearly everything about the actual movie.
No release date. No director. No writer credited publicly. No plot details. No confirmation of whether it goes to theaters or straight to Disney+, as the second film did.
No filming start has been announced either, which is the detail that makes a set photo this month improbable.
What exists is a greenlight, a cast, a studio, a script Midler likes, and an Instagram post. That’s enough to confirm the thing is real. It is not enough to tell you when you’ll see it.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
WDW News Today (Oct. 2, 2026), Lauren Stracner’s report on the Instagram post, the caption, the image description and the project timeline
Deadline (May 2026), the report that Hocus Pocus 3 entered early development with all three Sanderson sisters returning
Deadline (October 2025), Midler’s comments on reading the script and the Hocus Pocus 2 streaming figures
Bette Midler via Instagram (October 2026), the original post
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