Warner Bros. made a rather surprising announcement recently, declaring that their feature adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches would be premiering on HBO Max. While this is not the first feature film to release entirely on streaming, following Disney’s Mulan, it is a surprising move for Warner Bros. who up until now, haven’t made many concessions to VOD options. Not only that, but the film will be forgoing theaters altogether, despite the slow reopening currently in place.
Not only that, but the film will be available to watch this month, placing its claim on an October 22nd release date. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, this version of the story is a sort of reimagining of the original. The film will follow a young boy who discovers a hidden group of witches living in secret while he’s staying with his grandma. He soon discovers that the witches have an evil plan to turn all world’s children into mice (sure, why not?), and must find some way to prevent their plan from being fulfilled.
There have been some tweaks to the story since both the original book and the 1990’s film adaptation starring Anjelica Huston. The boy and his grandmother are now Black, and the film will be set in 1960’s Alabama, which should make for some interesting new interpretations and subtext. It would seem the film is more a reinterpretation of the book than a remake of the previous adaptation, and it has quite a few big names signed on for the project. Anne Hathaway will play the role of the Grand High Witch, and behind the scenes Kenya Barris of Black-ish is credited as a co-writer, as well as Guillermo del Toro.
The Witches had previously been delayed to 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but it seems Warner Bros. have decided they’ll get better mileage out of a Halloween release window. It does make sense, with no end to the restrictions in sight and an appropriate holiday tie in, the film could do very well as a streaming incentive for those interested in watching. Whether or not the movie will pull in new subscribers or make a huge splash is yet to be seen, but in the meantime audiences can check out the latest trailer, released at the same time as the announcement.
The Witches will release on HBO Max October 22nd.
Source: Collider
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