Witch Please! A Jim Henson Classic Is Getting Rebooted By Robert Zemeckis
Hello nerds!
Robert Zemeckis is in final negotiations with Warner Bros.’ to reboot a truly classic movie, that's based on a classic book.
Per a report from Variety, the legendary director is set to oversee a reboot of Jim Henson's The Witches, which itself is an adaptation of the beloved book by Roald Dahl of the same name. Zemeckis will write and direct the movie with Jack Rapke, Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro all set to produce.
Based on the 1973 novel by Roald Dahl, The Witches was Jim Henson‘s final film and starred Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch, who leads a coven of other horrible witches. Obvs. Well, GHW has come up with a plan to turn every child in the world into an adorable mouse, making them instantly squishable with giant shoes. She then encounters a plucky young boy and his sickly grandmother, whom inadvertently become the main targets of the witches and from there the story really gets great.
I truly love this movie, and I still watch it to this very day. It's a classic story by Dahl, smothered in Henson charm, with some incredible puppetry and makeup FX, and features Anjelica Huston and Rowan "Mr. Motherfecking Bean" Atkinson. There is NOTHING not to love about this movie. In fact, the only complaint one could muster about the movie is that it takes some liberties with the elements it used from the source material.
For those that have both seen the film and read the book, you know the original movie was a loose interpretation, though it did still capture the essence of the novel. But, the novel is a better story. It's a bit darker and the ending is a certified 100% tear-jerker. Seriously. It brings the feels.
Normally, when it comes to reboots of beloved classics, I lean towards "Not a fan of them". However, the creative team they've assembled is terribly intriguing. They've each been responsible for several iconic films and are master storytellers. And when you factor in the movie is rumored to stick more closely to Dahl's novel, I think The Witches has all the makings of a modern-day classic remake of a 90s classic.
Please, let them manage to snag a cameo from Anjelica Huston and Rowan Atkinson. We all could use some magic these days.
