At least half the pleasure of Disney’s silly ’90s Halloween classic Hocus Pocus is watching Bette Midler tear through the town of Salem as witchy woman Winifred Sanderson, devouring the scenery with a degree of success far surpassing her efforts to gobble up little kids’ souls. But don’t expect to see Midler reprising her beloved role for Disney’s upcoming remake of the film, or even stopping by, broom in hand, for a quick cameo.
Midler—who’s previously had to ask nostalgia addicts to kindly stop bugging her about the possibility of a Hocus Pocus sequel—recently talked briefly about the remake with People, saying she thought the whole concept sounded “cheap.” “I know it’s cheap. It’s going to be cheap!” she said, tossing some future-shade at whichever poor actress gets lured into trying to reprise her role as Winifred. “I’m not sure what they’re going to do with my character,” she said. “My character is very, very broad and I don’t know who they’re going to find to play that.”
The remake is being written by Scarlett Lacey of The Royals, who should probably give up on trying to write any parts for Midler into her script. When asked how much she’d have to be offered to show up for the film, Midler didn’t even bother with a number. “No!” she told reporters. “No, no!”