OMG, this A-List Hollywood star nearly played Max in Hocus Pocus
Hocus Pocus is the Holy Grail of Halloween movies.
I'd watch it all year round because it's a f*cking great movie but come October 1st, it's practically on a daily loop in my house.
Released in 1993, the story is now 25 years old (how mental is that?) and most of us know it OBH.
LA teen Max Dennison is the new guy at his Salem school, it's Halloween, and three sister witches come back from the dead after 300 years to suck the life out of all of the kids in the town blah blah blah.
Loving it as we do, the cast fits seamlessly into the plot – Thora Birch as fiery kid Dani deffo steals all the scenes she's in.
But wait, guess who was all lined up to be the lead character, Max?
None other than Hollywood heavyweight Leo DiCaprio and our mind is blown.
We can't imagine 90's cutsey Leo as the grumpy but likeable teen played by Omri Katz.
Hocus Pocus director Kenny Ortega has said that Leo was the original inspo for the character.
He said, ''the [casting] ladies called me up and they said, ‘We’re sending you an actor today but he’s not available but you're going to fall in love with him but you can’t have him. You need to see this guy because he’ll inspire you and if nothing else, he’ll help you find the right guy to play Max.''
He continued, "and they send me in a young Leonardo DiCaprio, who I completely and absolutely fall in love with.''
However young Leo chose to star in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape instead of the Halloween classic.
Leo DiCaprio was offered the role of Max Dennison in Hocus Pocus but turned it down. Think about how good that would have been. Think….
— Lauren Teminsky (@LaurenTeminsky) March 26, 2014
And Kenny was happy with who they got to play Max instead.
He said, ''obviously, he left and incredible things happened for that young man, but meeting him awakened me to the kind of spirit and fun and sincerity that I was looking for in an actor and when Omri Katz came around, I fell in love again and he was our Max."
Fans of the movie were quick to add their views on what they thought about this casting.
Some thought Leo was all wrong for the flick, saying that Omri Katz was perfect in the role
One wrote, ''Idk something about Omri Katz's quirkiness is almost perfect for the role.''
While others were showing their die-hard dedication to Leo.
One tweeted, ''Leo would never get his sneakers stolen like that chump'' and another said, ''Leo DiCaprio was the original choice for Max in Hocus Pocus, which would have made him my bae-ist bae.''
What do you think – Omri or Leo? Think we gotta stick with the original, you just can't beat it.
