Starring: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, and Whitney Peak
The Logline: Sisters! The Black Flame Candle burns again. But this Halloween, the Sanderson Sisters aren’t here to suck the lives out of children—they’re the only ones wicked enough to save them.
The Synopsis:
It has been four years since the Sanderson Sisters dusted away into the sunrise, but in Salem, magic never truly sleeps.
The year is 2026. Becca (Whitney Peak), now a formidable young witch leading her own modern coven, senses a disturbance in the ether that chills her to the bone. A formidable ancient entity—Malakai the Warlock—has risen from the depths of the underworld. Unlike the Sandersons, who merely wanted youth, Malakai seeks to drain the world of all magic, turning the vibrant supernatural history of Salem into a grey, soulless void.
Becca and her friends quickly realize they are woefully outmatched. Their modern crystals and sage smudging are useless against Malakai’s primordial darkness. Desperate and running out of time, Becca realizes she needs raw, chaotic, old-world power. She needs the strongest—and craziest—witches Salem has ever known.
With trembling hands, Becca performs a forbidden “Ritual of Necessity” and lights the Black Flame Candle.
Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) explode back onto the mortal plane in a cloud of green smoke and glitter. Expecting to wreak havoc, they are baffled to find that they haven’t been summoned as villains, but as the last line of defense. Winifred is insulted by the idea of being a “hero,” but when she learns that Malakai intends to destroy her town and her reputation as the scariest witch in history, it becomes personal.
What follows is a hilarious and campy clash of generations. The Sandersons must navigate a 2026 they barely understand while “mentoring” the young witches.
- Winifred tries to teach Becca the art of the “Boooooook,” frustrated by the girl’s reliance on digital spell-checking.
- Sarah discovers social media and becomes an instant viral TikTok sensation.
- Mary engages in a high-speed chase, but lacking a vacuum cleaner, she enchants a fleet of robotic Roombas to fly her through the night sky.
The film builds to a show-stopping climax in the Salem Town Square. In a battle of Old Magic vs. New Evil, the Sandersons unleash a massive musical spell—a bewitching cover of a modern pop hit—that forces the entire town to dance in unison to generate enough energy to banish the Warlock. Hocus Pocus 3: The Witching Hour is a spooky, heartfelt, and hysterical ride proving that while the Sanderson Sisters might be wicked, nobody messes with their turf but them.
