Robert Zemeckis to Resurrect “The Witches”

Roald Dahl’s 1973 novel “The Witches,” about a little boy who gets mixed up with a coven, was given the big-screen treatment back in 1990, with Nicholas Roeg at the helm, puppets from The Jim Henson Company, and a cast that included Anjelica Huston and the neurotic kid from “Parenthood.”

Roeg’s film tanked at the box office but nearly 30 years later, Warner Bros. has announced that they will be producing a new version directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Though Dahl’s books have been acclaimed the world over, the translation from page to film has not been as easy. His “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” became the beloved “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” which saw lighting strike twice in 1971 and 2005, but Steven Spielberg?s 2016 “The BFG” and Disney?s 1996 animated “James and the Giant Peach” both tanked. We’ll see if Zemeckis has some magic up his sleeve.