As Disney+ develops “Hocus Pocus 3,” Thora Birch, who played young Dani Dennison in the original 1993 film, says she’s willing to reprise the role.
During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actress responded to questions about Dani’s return in the third installment, saying “Yeah, I’d like to know what they land on for how Dani wound up. I’m super open to the idea.”
Birch was 11 years old when Disney released the first “Hocus Pocus.” She played the youngest member of the central Dennison family alongside her on-screen siblings, played by Omri Katz and Vinessa Shaw. Though the film failed to excel at the box office upon release, it has since garnered a strong following.
“It was so devastating when it first came out. It was such a bomb and we were all bummed because we loved making it,” Birch reflects, “We were like, ‘What, you don’t like it?’ and then ten years later they’re like ‘Oh my God, are you that girl from ‘Hocus Pocus.’”
The film received the legacy sequel treatment with the release of Disney+’s ‘Hocus Pocus 2‘ in 2022. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy reprised their roles as the central antagonists from the first film, but the original Dennison family ensemble was left out of the sequel. The film was a smash hit for the streamer, accumulating 2.7 billion minutes watched during its opening weekend.
Perhaps they will have a chance to return in the threequel. Though Birch expressed interest in the idea, she concedes that the prospect is open-ended, stating, “They like talking about this stuff, so we’ll see.”
Birch may be getting the call back to Salem sooner than she thinks. Midler recently shared during an appearance on “Watch What Happens Live” that she read an early draft of the script and thought it was “brilliant.”
“Well, you know, they sent a script, and a lot of it was brilliant,” she said. “So I got very excited, and now we’re trying to figure out what it is and where it’s going to be and how much it’s going to cost and all those logistical things.”
