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Release Date Announced For The Remake Of Roald Dahl's The Witches

Release Date Announced For The Remake Of Roald Dahl's The Witches

You've got until 2020 to prepare yourself

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

Good news - the Warner Bros. remake of The Witches now officially has a release date. The updated version of what is - unofficially - the scariest kids' film of all time will reach cinemas on 16 October 2020.

The film will be directed by Robert Zemeckis, who was also behind the Back to the Future trilogy and The Polar Express, among other things.

The film will be set in 1969 and is based on the same Roald Dahl book that the original film used for its source material.

The plot of the original text follows a young boy called Luke who accidentally stumbles across a convention for witches while staying in a hotel with his grandmother. Eventually, the Grand High Witch turns him into a mouse.

Luke then learns about the witches' plan, which is basically to turn loads of kids into mice. He then has to stop them, which is easier said than done when you're a mouse.

The film's official synopsis reads: "When his parents are killed, a young boy goes to live with his feisty, loving grandma, who had a terrifying encounter with witches when she was just a girl.

"When Grandma realises that the witches have returned, she flees with the boy to the swankiest resort in the South - only to realise that they've wandered right into a nest of witches, headed by the Grand High Witch, who intends to transform the world's children into mice - starting with the boy..."

You may have read 'the South' just then, but that's a little misleading, if we're honest.

Anjelica Huston starred in the 1990 original.
Warner Bros.

You see, the original Roald Dahl book was set in the British seaside town of Bournemouth, but for this latest film it is going to be moved to America.

Recently, Zemeckis said in an interview with Allocine that he was planning to set it in the 'Gothic' southern USA.

He said: "We're going to set it in the Gothic South in the 1960s and that's an exciting way to put a sociological spin on this kind of traditional witch story. So it's kind of an exciting idea."

The film will star Anne Hathaway as the Grand High Witch, which should be fun. Well, you'd think so anyway. The Internet is actually pretty divided over the decision.

Obviously, Anjelica Huston in the original film pretty much smashed it. That means that some folks are a bit worried about getting Hathaway in.

One said: "That's like singing a Celine Dion or Whitney Houston song. Likely it's gonna be rough."

Another added: "Hmm. I'll give it a chance. This movie was spine-tinglingly, terrifyingly, deliciously horrifying when I was a kid. Anjelica Huston was so so good. I'll never forget the way she said 'I smell...children...' Scared me for years whenever I thought about it."

Well, we'll have to wait and see.

Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Topics: Entertainment News, Movies, TV and Film, Celebrity, News, US Entertainment, Hollywood