The first trailer for The Witches, a new adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel, has finally arrived!
The film, directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump), is the second adaptation of Dahl’s novel, the first being the 1990 film produced by Jim Henson and starring Anjelica Huston. This new take, produced alongside Alfonso Curón (Gravity, Roma) and Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water), who also co-wrote the film with Zemeckis and Kenya Barris, boasts an all-star cast featuring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci and Chris Rock.
The story, set in 1960 Alabama, follows a young boy and his mother who stumble upon a conference of child-hating witches, whose Grand High Witch (Hathaway) transforms the boy into a mouse amidst her plot to eradicate children everywhere.
The release of this trailer also comes with the announcement of the film’s release date being delayed from it’s original October 9th date, to two weeks later on October 22nd. As well, the film, which was originally set to a have a theatrical release, will now be released exclusively on HBO Max, no doubt to accommodate for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The film looks impressive so far and is poised to be a great selling point for HBO Max during the Halloween season, but we look forward to hearing your thoughts on the trailer, and what to expect from this new take on the classic story.