Neuigkeiten

Hocus Pocus director Kenny Ortega says the Disney Channel’s upcoming remake of the 1993 Halloween flick would be “much more fun” with the film’s original cast.

Et confirmed in September that a “new iteration” of the beloved movie was in the works, with a new cast taking over the roles of the three witch sisters originally played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy.

“More power to 'em!” Ortega told Et’s Deidre Behar at The L.A. Dance Project's annual gala at their brand new space in downtown Los Angeles, California, on Saturday. “I would like to see a sequel, and I think that the fans would like to see a sequel.”

“I think it would be much more fun to bring the ladies back,” the producer, director and choreographer added. “They’re all still vital and in their prime and capable of doing so much that it would be great to see...

The Sanderson sisters will be running amok once again, but there's a catch...

A "new iteration" of the 1993 Halloween film,Hocus Pocus, is in the works at Disney Channel, a rep for the network tells Et. Scarlett Lacey (The Royals) and David Kirschner (The Addams Family) -- who served as a producer on the original film -- are set to executive produce. Deadline was the first to report, adding that  a new cast will be reprising the roles, including the witch sisters, initially immortalized by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker. 

While the film only modest theatrical numbers upon its initial release, it soon became a cult hit with fans clamoring for a sequel in recent years. So you can imagine their dismay at learning of a remake with an entirely new cast -- good thing they had Twitter to unleash their feelings.

Exclusive: Sarah Jessica Parker Says She Wants to Make 'Hocus Pocus' and 'Sex...

Bubble, bubble. Our favorite three witches may be about to cause more trouble!

A "new iteration" of the 1993 Halloween film,Hocus Pocus, is in the works at Disney Channel, a rep for the network tells Et. Scarlett Lacey (The Royals) and David Kirschner (The Addams Family) -- who served as a producer on the original film -- are set to executive produce. Deadline was the first to report, adding that  a new cast will be reprising the roles, including the witch sisters, initially immortalized by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker. 

The Disney Channel revival is fitting for the film, which saw only modest theatrical numbers, but became a cult hit as a staple of the network's Halloween programming.

Exclusive: Sarah Jessica Parker Says She Wants to Make 'Hocus Pocus' and 'Sex and the City' Sequels

Et spoke to Kenny Ortega, who directed the original film (but is not linked to the remake...

Witchy halloween classic “Hocus Pocus,” which starred powerhouse trio Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, will get a television remake from Disney Channel, Deadline reports. Original producer David Kirschner will conjure the follow-up; unfortunately none of the original cast are slated to return. “The Royals” scribe Scarlett Lacy will pen the screenplay.

The 1993 horror comedy paired Midler, Parker, and Najimy as deliciously evil trio of witchy sisters. After a group of kids accidentally resurrect the sisters, they magically return to Salem, Massachusetts from 300 years in the past. In their quest to suck the souls out of all the children in the town, they must adjust to the new world order, contending with the marvels of paved roads and electricity. It was written by Neil Cuthbert and Mick Garris, and directed by Kenny Ortega, who has directed two of Disney Channel’s biggest TV movie franchises, “High School Musical” and “Descendants.

Close-Up is a column that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Jack Hill's Spider Baby (1967) will be showing January 24 - February 23 and Pit Stop (1967) will be showing January 25 - February 24, 2017 in the United States.Quentin Tarantino, unsurprisingly a gushing fan of Jack Hill, once famously compared the exploitation specialist to venerable Hollywood icon Howard Hawks, presumably on the basis of his distinctly personal preferences and his unassuming, across-the-board genre dabbling. Of course, those genres explored by Hawks—from westerns to screwball comedies—were considerably different than those in which Hill excels, but the point is well taken: within his respective niches, Hill does it as well as anyone, with skill and without pretense. This includes quintessential Blaxploitation classics like Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974), and some of the finest women-in-prison films ever made—yes, there are some very fine women-in-prison films—namely The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage...

Tony-nominated actor Dick Gautier, known for his role in Bye, Bye Birdie and the hit TV sitcom Get Smart, has reportedly died. He was 85.

Gautier’s daughter Denise told The Hollywood Reporter that her father died Friday night at an assisted living facility in Arcadia, California, after suffering from a longtime illness.

Gautier started his career working as a stand-up comic and he went on to star as Conrad Birdie in the hit 1960 musical Bye, Bye Birdie. His Elvis-inspired role scored him a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

Another beloved role of Gautier’s was his...

Warner Bros

Harold Pinter once said that there are two types of silence: one where nothing is spoken, and one where a ceaseless torrent of conversation effectively takes meaning away from the words. Under normal circumstances, a huge part of an actor’s performance is dependent on the dialogue they are given. That’s how we determine the type of person that they are, and without those words, actors have to work even harder to develop characterization in a way that the audience can understand. So to play a character who, for one reason or another, does not speak, creates quite a challenge.

When you don’t have the luxury of words, you have to use your face and your body as the only way to communicate with not only the other characters in the film, but with the audience as well. Anyone who has seen particularly dated silent films...

The actor who gave beloved U.S. TV character Gumby a voice has died in California

Dick Beals, who also voiced the lead character in TV's Davey & Goliath, was 85.

Beals suffered from a glandular condition which left him with the body and voice of a child.

His distinctive childlike qualities helped the actor become a hit in broadcasting in the 1940s, when he was first heard on radio shows like The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet.

He moved to Hollywood in 1952 and signed on to front Alka-Seltzer ads as animated sprite Speedy.

The character was featured in more than 200 commercials that aired from 1954 to 1964, according to the Los Angeles Times.

As well as his roles in Davey & Goliath and The Gumby Show, Beals also sang with Gene Kelly in the 1967 TV special Jack and the Beanstalk and he beat out 300 child actors for the role of N.J. Normanmeyer in the early 1990s animated series The Addams Family - at the age of 65.

Away from Hollywood, Beals opened an ad agency in his adopted Escondido, California and served as a high school sports announcer.