‘Halloweentown 5’ in development at Disney nearly 20 years after last film

Disney is developing a fifth Halloweentown film, bringing the beloved fantasy franchise back into consideration nearly two decades after its last instalment.

According to TheWrap, writers Lily Houghton and Ryan Koehn are developing a screenplay for the potential movie for Disney Channel and Disney+. The project remains in its early stages, and details about the plot, director and release schedule have not been announced.

The script will be based on characters created by Paul Bernbaum, who wrote the original Halloweentown, released in 1998. The first film follows teenager Marnie Piper as she discovers that she comes from a family of witches and begins learning about her magical heritage.

Kimberly J Brown played Marnie in the first three films, including Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge in 2001 and Halloweentown High in 2004. Sara Paxton took over the role in the fourth instalment, Return to Halloweentown, released in 2006.

It remains unclear whether Brown, Paxton or other familiar cast members will return for the potential fifth film. Disney has not announced casting details, and the project has not been confirmed for production.

The franchise has maintained a strong audience over the years. The four existing films have accumulated 160 million hours of viewing globally on Disney+. The original movie also ranked among the platform’s 10 most-watched Halloween films in October 2025.

Houghton’s writing credits include the horror comedy Forbidden Fruits, while Koehn worked on the Gossip Girl reboot and has other screenwriting credits, including Homeschooled.

A fifth film would expand Disney’s collection of Halloween-themed titles, which includes Hocus Pocus and Twitches. However, with the screenplay still in development, it is too early to know whether the story will reunite original characters or introduce a new generation of witches.

All four existing Halloweentown films are currently available on Disney+.