Hocus Pocus (1993 film) made to the script to make the film more comedic and made two of its young protagonists into teenagers; however, production was stalled several times until 1992, when Bette Midler expressed interest in the script and the project immediately went forward. Midler, who plays the central antagonist of the film (originally written for Cloris Leachman), is quoted as saying that "Hocus Pocus" "was the most fun I'd had in my career up to that point". Leonardo DiCaprio was originally offered the lead role of Max, but declined it in order to pursue "What's Eating Gilbert Grape". Principal photography began on
Bette Midler on the set." While the original book and film had tremendous cultural impact, the remake was marked by poor reviews by many critics, and a financial loss of approximately $40 million at the box office. Midler joined forces again with Manilow for another tribute album, "Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook". Released in October 2005, the album sold 55,000 copies the first week of release, returned Midler to the top ten of US "Billboard" 200, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Midler released a new Christmas album titled "Cool Yule" in 2006, which featured a duet of Christmastime