Hocus Pocus 2's Original Ending Would Have Been A Flashy Purgatory Party
Contains spoilers for "Hocus Pocus 2"
"Hocus Pocus 2" is packed with small details and cool nods to the original. The ending of the movie reveals that the film has doubled as an origin story for a new witch coven of Becca (Whitney Peak), Izzy (Belissa Escobedo), and Cassie (Lilia Buckingham), who seem to be taking on similar roles as Winifred (Bette Midler), Mary (Kathy Najimy), and Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) occupy in the Sanderson coven.
Of course, the Sandersons wouldn't be the Sandersons if they didn't get in the final word. Despite their defeat, they're a prominent presence in the end credits, where they perform their final musical number (so far) in a recording studio. However, this fun rendition of "The Witches are Back" was originally going to take place in a much different environment. According to recent revelations by the movie's costume designer, "Hocus Pocus 2's" original ending would have been a flashy purgatory party. Here's why this never came to be.
Budget issues prevented the more colorful musical number
During an appearance on Robert Peterpaul's The Art of Kindness podcast, "Hocus Pocus 2" costume designer Salvador Perez — who also happens to be the President of Costume Designer Guild, no less — discussed the movie's original musical ending, and revealed that it almost took place in a much more interesting place than a studio environment. Unfortunately, the budget simply didn't have room for that final moment of post-mortem opulence.
"Opposed to them singing in the music studio, it was going to be them performing onstage in Purgatory," Perez said. "I was supposed to do a gold version of them in gold costumes. We started that process and then they said 'no we're not gonna do it, we don't have the time or the money.'"
Perez also discussed his ideas for the scene's costumes, and from the sound of it, the musical number was indeed gearing up to be a veritable purgatory party.
" The audience was gonna be all in red and it was all different historical costumes, but all in red," he said. "So 15th century, 16th century, 17th ... all these dead people in red in the booths, and then the ladies in gold onstage."
The first "Hocus Pocus" was originally planned to have a scarier tone, but the final movie's combination of kid-friendly fun moments and just the right amount of creepy threat has been a key factor in the movie's slow-burn road to a bona fide Halloween classic. While the sequel's finished end credits scene that features the Sandersons goofing off in a studio is absolutely entertaining, the scrapped musical scene in purgatory would have been extremely in line with the "Hocus Pocus" tone, and a neat way to show that the ladies manage to have a great time even when they're not actively terrorizing the land of the living.