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Robert Zemeckis' The Witches adds Octavia Spencer to the cast - SciFiNow

Robert Zemeckis’ The Witches adds Octavia Spencer to the cast

Octavia Spencer has joined the cast of Robert Zemeckis’ The Witches

Robert Zemeckis’ film adaptation of The Witches has signed itself another Oscar winner in the form of Octavia Spencer (The Help, Hidden Figures), according to Variety.

Newcomers Jahzir Bruno and Codie-Lei Eastick have also recently been added to the cast. The three new players join Anne Hathaway as the Grand High Witch, the role that Anjelica Huston played in Warner Bros’ 1990 film directed by Nicolas Roeg.

The film is based on the 1973 children’s novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, which follows the experiences of a 7-year-old boy who has an unpleasant run-in with a coven of witches.

Bruno is taking on the role of the 7-year-old boy, while Spencer will play Bruno’s character’s grandmother. Eastick will play another boy on the run from witches.

Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape Of WaterPan’s Labyrinth) and Alfonso Cuaron (GravityHarry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban) are both serving as producers. Zemeckis (Back To The FutureForrest Gump) is set to write the script with his ImageMovers partner Jack Rapke, and the pair will also produce. Like the 1990 version, the film is coming from Warner Bros.

You can read the synopsis for The Witches, as found on the official Roald Dahl website, here:

Witches absolutely detest children. To a witch, a child smells like dogs’ droppings. And now the Grand High Witch is planning to get rid of every child in England – can anybody stop them?

The Witches is available to buy in paperback, hardback and Kindle edition from Amazon now. Get all the latest fantasy news with every issue of SciFiNow.