Hocus Pocus 2 Billy star Doug Jones reveals why he is so postive about the sequel's performance. The upcoming movie serves as a follow-up to Kenny Ortega's 1993 movie, which has become a cult classic over the years. In the new movie, original stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy reuntite as Winifred, Mary, and Sarah, aka the Sanderson Sisters, as they are unleashed into the present day Salem by three high school students nearly three decades after they were defeated by Max and Dani.
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While the full story of Hocus Pocus 2 is not clear, the movie will reportedly see the nefarious Sanderson Sisters terrorizing children in a modern setting. The recent Hocus Pocus 2 trailer also showed that the film would delve into Winifred, Mary, and Sarah's past, charting their origins and subsequent transformation into the notorious witches. Some other legacy characters are also returning besides the Sanderson Sisters. This includes Jones' Billy Butcherson, Winifred's former lover who cheated on her with her sister Sarah. Billy was killed by Winifred for his infidelity, but he was raised back from the dead as a zombie in the 1993 movie. After the Sanderson Sisters' defeat, Billy goes back into sleep, but in Hocus Pocus 2, Billy will return to help Winifred with her mission.
Now, in an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Jones discusses why he chose to reprise his role as Billy in Hocus Pocus 2 and why is he so confident that the movie will be a success. As the actor reveals, he decided to play Billy again after he learned that the original Sanderson Sisters trio was returning and Anne Fletcher, who has a rich portfolio of movies, was directing. Fletcher and the original stars' collaboration made Jones feel confident about the movie, and as he realized later on, his intuition was not wrong as Hocus Pocus 2 was able to authentically capture the nuances of the 1993 film. Read what Jones said below.
I sure did, especially hearing that the three witches had returned as well, when Bette and Sarah and Kathy had all signed on to come back. I don't keep in touch with Bette all the time, but I knew her well enough as a professional that she wouldn't say yes, unless the script was right, or unless she had a hand in also collaborating with rewrites and making it just so, so I trust her. Also, when I first heard that our director was Anne Fletcher that kept in — our director for the first movie was Kenny Ortega with his musical dance background and his directing of films that have been big and lively and colorful, and I knew that we were in the same great hands with Anne Fletcher, with her amazing directing background with movies in which she understands comedy, she understands shapes and colors and movement as well, and she directs in a rhythm. So I felt really confident about this and going back in and getting back on set then was, I wasn't wrong, the vibe was still the same. It's more modern times now, in real life, but when you see Bette and Sarah and Kathy and me all done up in our original looks, our costumes and hair makeup, it's like, "Wow, it was almost like no time had passed at all." Everyone has the same personalities, we all clicked back into our characters so easily with all the quirks and idiosyncrasies and the relationships were still there. I still had biting comments back and forth with Winifred, it was all in place, and Billy came back to me so easily. I don't know what it was, he's always been living in me all these years. [Laughs] He kind of woke up again with the costume, makeup and hair going back on, it was kind of easy.
As previous trailers for the movie have shown, Hocus Pocus 2 is heavily cashing on nostalgia, so it makes sense that Jones found the experience so similar to when he was filming the 1993 movie. The costumes, iconography, and the writing all hearken back to Ortega's film, which made it easy for Jones to commit to the film as the elements made him confident that the sequel wouldn't dishonor the original movie. Additionally, the return of the original Sanderson Sisters trio was also important for Jones. He knows the stars professionally, and is sure that they wouldn't agree to a film unless the writing and story appeases them. So when Middler, Najimy, and Parker signed on to the film, Jones felt reassured, as he knew that the trio would be able to recreate the magic from the 1993 film. Fortunately, he was not wrong, as when the Sanderson Sisters stars reunited for Hocus Pocus 2, there was nothing but giddiness, and with their amiable chemistry intact, they quickly and seamlessly stepped back into their roles.
One additional thing that Jones sheds a light on is that the new director Fletcher has sufficiently and aptly understood Ortega's cinematography. Fletcher has a sound understanding of the comedy genre, and hence she was able to imbue Hocus Pocus 2 with the same vibrant visuals and quirky numbers that made the original movie so beloved. Adding that to the mix with other elements like contentment of the returning stars and the similar tone, it was clear to Jones that Hocus Pocus 2 has the perfect recipe for success, and this made it easier for him to agree to return for his role as Billy. Jones is fully optimistic that Hocus Pocus 2 will be a hit, although how the movie fares will only become clear when it arrives at Disney+ later this month.