We love Nicolas Roeg‘s The Witches (1990) here on Bloody Disgusting, Jim Henson‘s final film starring Angelica Huston as a witch intent on turning the world’s children into mice. We explained why it may just be the scariest children’s film ever made, and even revealed that the film quietly holds a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (still!) Now, nearly 30 years later, it’s getting the good ol’ Hollywood remake.
Robert Zemeckis is in final negotiations to direct Warner Bros.’ latest adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic book, which is being produced by Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro, says Variety.
Zemeckis will also pen the script, with his partner Jack Rapke producing through their banner ImageMovers. Del Toro had long been attached to direct, but a scheduling conflict led the Oscar winner to vacate the director’s chair.
Based on the 1973 novel, the film follows a seven-year-old boy who has a run in with real-life witches. Zemeckis’ version will be more rooted in the original source material, which had a much darker, franchise-beginning finale (the young boy remains a mouse and must spend his short life hunting and killing all of those registered in the Grand High Witch’s address book).
As the site notes, The Witches would mark a return to that family-friendly genre for Zemeckis, like the Back to the Future franchise and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which helped turn him into one of Hollywood’s biggest directors.
