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Legacy sequels are a tough nut to crack, but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from continuing to churn them out anyway. Weaponized nostalgia remains a powerful tool, and very few productions have embraced that notion more than recent Disney Plus debutant Hocus Pocus 2.
The 1993 original may have performed below expectations on both a critical and commercial level after ending up in the red during its initial theatrical run and being greeted with a general shrug of apathy from critics, but the fantastical horror comedy’s cult classic status was secured once it landed on home video and became a staple of the Disney Channel viewing schedule.
Talk of a sequel reared its head every now and again, but it was long believed to be a pipe-dream until it was finally confirmed to be a living, breathing in-development project in October of 2019, sending fans of all generations wild in the process. Hocus Pocus 2 landed on Disney Plus this past Friday, but was it worth the wait?
The answer is a solid maybe, which is less than folks were expecting. Interestingly, the second chapter has fared much better with critics after scoring 61 percent on Rotten Tomatoes compared to the opener’s 38, but the user ratings have drastically dipped from 71 percent to 56.
Either way, spooky season is upon us, so we can expect Hocus Pocus 2 to hold firm at the top of the streaming ranks for some time to come. A mere 24 hours after premiering , the return of the Sanderson sisters became the number one most-watched feature on the D+ global charts per FlixPatrol, having entered the Top 10 in 60 countries and hit the summit in 36 of them. Hocus Pocus 3, anyone?