Trailer! Zemeckis and Del Toro’s The Witches is coming to HBO Max this month

Despite sporting a PG rating and being aimed at children, director Nicolas Roeg's 1990 adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel THE WITCHES (you can pick up a copy of the book HERE and watch the movie HERE)  was still seen as being quite scary and disturbing by the kids who checked it out. Thirty years later, Robert Zemeckis and Guillermo del Toro have teamed up to make their own adaptation of THE WITCHES (see the trailer above) – and we're going to have our chance to see how troubling this one will be to a new generation by the end of the month.

THE WITCHES was originally expected to reach theatres this month, but since this is 2020 it will actually be going straight to streaming. The film will be available to watch on HBO Max as of October 22nd. This release plan is revealed on the poster seen below.

Scripted by Zemeckis, del Toro, and Kenya Barris, this version of the Dahl story moves the setting from 1980s Norway and England to 1960s Alabama. It centers on 

a young boy who stumbles upon a secret coven of witches and, with the help of his loving grandmother, vies to stop their evil plan to turn all the world’s children into mice. 

The film stars Jahzir Kadeem Bruno, Octavia Spencer, Kristin Chenoweth, Codie-Lei Eastick, and Stanley Tucci, with Anne Hathaway as The Grand High Witch and Chris Rock providing narration.

Zemeckis and del Toro produced with Alfonso Cuaron, Jack Rapke, and Steve Starkey.