'The Witches': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and all you need to know about HBO Max comedy starring Octavia Spencer and Anne Hathaway
The movie is adapted from the children's novel published by Roald Dahl's in 1983. The novel was previously made into a film by Nicolas Roeg with the screenplay written by Allan Scott in 1990. This particular 2020 adaption reimagined by the director Robert Zemeckis and brings the novel to life with talented A-listers such as Octavia Spencer and Anne Hathaway. Here is all you need to know about the HBO Max family comedy coming your way just in time for Halloween.
Release date
'The Witches' releases on October 22, 2020.
Plot
A summary on Metacritic reads, "Reimagining Roald Dahl's 1983 children's novel for a modern audience, 'The Witches' tells the darkly humorous and heartwarming tale of a young orphaned boy (Jahzir Kadeem Bruno) who, in late 1967, goes to live with his loving Grandma (Octavia Spencer) in the rural Alabama town of Demopolis. As the boy and his grandmother encounter some deceptively glamorous but thoroughly diabolical witches, she wisely whisks our young hero away to an opulent seaside resort. Regrettably, they arrive at precisely the same time that the world’s Grand High Witch (Anne Hathaway) has gathered her fellow cronies from around the globe to carry out her nefarious plans."
Cast
Anne Hathaway as the Grand High Witch
This is not the first time Hathaway is sporting her talent in a film that ensures the fantasy of magic. Does anyone remember 'Ella Enchanted' or even the fantasy that was 'The Princess Diaries'? The award-winning actress is an excellent all-around actress known for her role as Fantine in 'Les Miserables' (2012), Selina in 'The Dark Knight Rises' (2012), Kym in 'Rachel Getting Married' (2008), and Brand in 'Interstellar' (2014). Most recently she was seen in 'The Hustle' (2019) with Rebel Wilson, 'Modern Love' (2019), 'Dark Waters' (2019), and 'Last Thing He Wanted' (2020). She is currently filming 'Lockdown' and has three releases in pre-production titled - 'Seasame Street', 'Bum's Rush', and 'Armageddon Time'. She also has an announced release titled 'The Lifeboat'. Hathaway has won one Oscar and was nominated for another; she was nominated in 2009 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for 'Rachel Getting Married' and won one in 2013 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for 'Les Misérables'. She was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 2011 for 'Nominee Primetime Emmy Outstanding Special Class Programs' and won a Primetime Emmy in 2010 for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for 'The Simpsons' for playing "Princess Penelope" in the episode titled 'Once Upon A Time In Springfield'.
Octavia Spencer as the Grandmother
Spencer is an award-winning actress and producer, known for her epic roles such as Dorothy Vaughan in 'Hidden Figures' (2016), Minny Jackson in 'The Help' (2011), Wanda in 'Fruitvale Station' (2013) and Papa in 'The Shack' (2017). Most recently she starred in the celebrated TV-Mini Series 'Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker' (2020). She has one release titled 'Thunder Force' in post-production, and two releases titled 'The Heart' and 'Invasion' in pre-production. The talented actress has been nominated for two Oscars and won one. She was nominated in 2017 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for 'Hidden Figures' and again in 2018 for the same category for 'The Shape of Water' where she played the roled of Zelda Fuller. In 2012, Spencer won an Oscar for 'Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role' for 'The Help'. She was also nominated this year for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for 'Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker'.
The rest of the A-list cast includes Stanley Tucci as Mr. Stringer, Kristin Chenoweth, Chris Rock as the narrator, newcomer Jahzir Kadeen Bruno, Codie-Lei Eastick as Bruno Jenkins, Charles Edwards as Mr. Jenkins, Morgana Robinson as Mrs. Jenkins, Eugenia Caruso as Consuella, Simon Manyonda as the Sous Chef, Jonathan Livingstone as Raymond, and many more.
Creators
The movie is directed by Robert Zemeckis with writing credits given to Roald Dahl who had originally written the novel, Allan Scott was had written the screenplay of the 1990 film 'The Witches', Kenya Barris, and Guillermo del Toro. Marianne Jenkins serves as executive producer, Derek Hogue serves as co-producer, and Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, and Zemeckis serving as producers.
Trailer
From the mind of Roald Dahl and re-imagined by Robert Zemeckis comes a dark hilarious family comedy that makes for a great Halloween movie. With the premise that witches are real, we see Anne Hathaway's Grand High Witch try to execute her evil plan of turning every child into mice with the help of her coven of witches as Octavia Spencer's character challenges her at every turn. From it's animation to hilarious accents, this is a movie for everyone to enjoy.
Where to watch
Catch 'The Witches' on October 22, 2020, on HBO Max.
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