Per the Hollywood Reporter, Robert Zemeckis’ ‘The Witches’ starring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Jahzir Bruno and Stanley Tucci is now headed for release on HBO Max. Similar to many other films this year, the United States release of this film, an adaptation of the 1983 Roald Dahl children’s book, is now being released on Warner Brothers streaming service. While the film is getting released on the streaming platform, the international release will still be in cinemas.
Set in 1967, the film is about a young boy (Bruno) that moves in with his grandmother (Spencer). One day the duo go to a hotel, where witches happen to be staying. Subsequently, the young boy stumbles upon a hall where witches from all over the world are meeting, including the Grand High Witch (Hathaway).
The film is a remake of the Anjelica Huston led 1990 nightmare certified ‘The Witches.’ The original film saw visionary work from puppeteer Jim Henson (The Muppets), while the remake is written by modern visionary Guillermo del Toro(The Shape of Water) with co-writers Robert Zemeckis( Back to the Future) and Kenya Barris (Black-ish). This successful trio’s combined talents will hopefully bring an intriguing children’s movie.
In addition to Hathaway, Spencer, and Tucci, the film is framed by a Chris Rock narration, while Jahzir Bruno plays the younger version. The trailer reveals the feeling of the movie, which is a darkly humorous, yet light children’s romp. Paired with screenwriters, the trailer feels akin to a halloween sitcom episode.
Zemeckis, famous for classics as the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy, and ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ has seen his new millennium work mostly focused on technological advances in a mix of live-action and traditional animation, to mixed results. Though thankfully, this new trailer feels as lively as his older films and captures that Roald Dahl feeling.
The 1983 book and 1990 movie were both huge hits and it is still yet to be seen if this movie will live up to expectations, but hopefully it can be a nice Halloween movie night for those children that cannot trick or treat.
The film is set to debut on HBO Max on October 22, and will be released internationally on October 28.
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