Robert Zemeckis to direct the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches

American filmmaker Robert Zemeckis will adapt Roald Dahl's classic book The Witches for Warner Bros making it more rooted with the original source material as compared to Warner Bros earlier production.

By: PTI

Los Angeles | June 20, 2018 03:30 PM IST

2 min read

Robert Zemeckis is an American filmmaker frequently credited as an innovator in visual effects.

Academy Award winner for Best Director, Robert Zemeckis is in negotiations to write and direct the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic book The Witches for Warner Bros.

Zemeckis will also pen the script, with his partner Jack Rapke producing through their banner ImageMovers. The new film will be produced by Oscar-winning directors Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro. Del Toro was earlier attached to direct the project but had to step aside due to scheduling conflicts, reported Variety.

Based on the 1973 novel, the film follows a seven-year-old boy who has a run in with real-life witches. Warner Bros. had previously adapted the book in 1990 with Anjelica Huston playing one of the title characters, but sources close to the project say Zemeckis’ version will be more rooted in the original source material.

Robert Zemeckis is an American filmmaker frequently credited as an innovator in visual effects. He first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of Romancing the Stone and the science-fiction comedy Back to the Future film trilogy, as well as the live-action/animated comedy Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In the 1990s he directed Death Becomes Her and then diversified into the more dramatic fare, including 1994’s Forrest Gump, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director. The film itself won Best Picture. The films he has directed have ranged across a wide variety of genres, for both adults and families.

In recent years, Zemeckis has been more focused on adult-centered dramas like Flight, Allied, and his upcoming Welcome to Marwen, and less interested in the tentpoles that made him famous early on his career. The Witches could mark a return to that family-friendly genre.

Zemeckis’ upcoming Welcome to Marwen releases on November 21.

From the homepage