Who’s ready for a little black magic? Roald Dahl‘s beloved 1983 children’s novel The Witches has been reimagined for a new generation in a movie for HBO Max. The spooky film stars Anne Hathaway as the HWIC — that’s head witch in charge, of course — and she’s delightfully sinister in the first trailer for the flick. The spot, which you can watch above, even features Anne ditching her glamorous facade to morph into a bald, scaly enchantress.
For the unversed who weren’t traumatized as kids by the original movie in the early 90s, The Witches follows a young boy (Jahzir Bruno) who has an unfortunate run-in with a convention of witches at a hotel. The Grand High Witch (Anne) reveals a plan to turn all children into mice, so that they’ll be exterminated. The witches find him spying on them, and make him their tester for the sinister magic formula.
The Witches, directed by Robert Zemeckis, sets up a Devil Wears Prada reunion between Anne and Stanley Tucci. Stanley plays the owner of the hotel who has an intense run-in with Anne and her witches in the trailer as they check into their convention. The star-studded cast also features Octavia Spencer (who’s done some horror of her own with Ma) as the boy’s grandmother, and Chris Rock as the narrator of the devious story.
The Witches was supposed to hit theaters on Halloween, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, has been moved to HBO Max. It will now hit the streaming platform on Tuesday, October 22. Grab your popcorn!
