HBO Max Unleashes The Witches Just in Time for Halloween (Trailer)

Originally going to see a regular theatrical release, Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches has instead become an HBO Max exclusive due to the pandemic.  Based on the 1983 novel by Dahl, which previously inspired a cult classic 1990 film version directed by Nicholas Roeg and starring Anjelica Huston, The Witches follows Jahzir Kadeem Bruno, who moves in with his loving grandmother, played by Octavia Spencer.  The pair take a vacation to a seaside resort but, unfortunately for them, they’ve chosen to take a vacation at the exact same location where the world’s witches have gathered for a conference, led by the evil Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway).  Despising children, The Grand High Witch turns The Boy and some other children into mice and he and his grandmother must figure out a way to defeat the witches and undo the spell.  Stanley Tucci and Kristen Chenoweth co-star and Chris Rock provides voice-over narration.  Guillermo Del Toro helped write the script along with Zemeckis and Kenya Barris and Alan Silvestri joins Zemeckis again to provide the score.  The movie is out on October 22nd on HBO Max and you can check out the trailer below.