Robert Zemeckis Will Direct a Film Adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Classic Book THE WITCHES
Director Robert Zemeckis is in final negotiations to helm a big screen adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic 1973 book The Witches for Warner Bros. He will also co-write the script with his partner, Jack Rapke along with Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) and Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water). Del Toro was attached to direct at one point, but he had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict.
As a fan of Zemeckis, I actually think this is a great project for him to take on and I'm sure he'll have some fun with it and deliver a solid film adaptation. He's such a great filmmaker that has made some incredible and classic films in his career and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with this. The story was previously adapted by Jim Henson in 1990 with Anjelica Huston playing one of the lead roles.
The story follows a seven-year-old boy who has a run in with real-life witches. According to Variety, Zemeckis’ version will be "more rooted in the original source material, while the Huston pic was a loose adaptation." Here's a description of the book:
This is not a fairy tale. This is about real witches. Grandmamma loves to tell about witches. Real witches are the most dangerous of all living creatures on earth. There's nothing they hate so much as children, and they work all kinds of terrifying spells to get rid of them. Her grandson listens closely to Grandmamma's stories—but nothing can prepare him for the day he comes face-to-face with The Grand High Witch herself!
Zemeckis most recently directed the Steve Carell film, Welcome to Marwen. What do you think about Zemeckis taking on The Witches?