Robert Zemeckis Says His Version Of ‘The Witches’ Will Be Set In The “Gothic South” With A “Sociological Spin”

Robert Zemeckis Says His Version Of ‘The Witches’ Will Be Set In The “Gothic South” With A “Sociological Spin”

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Robert Zemeckis didn’t finish 2018 on a high note, at all. With all the expectations of possible awards season contention, the filmmaker’s latest work, “Welcome to Marwen” arrived in theaters with terrible reviews and the label of “worst movie of the year.” Definitely not a great way to end 2018 for the legendary director. But alas, he’s moving on, and his next project, “The Witches” is, yet again, another highly anticipated film. And in a new interview, Zemeckis updates fans on the film and explains one major change he’s making to the Roald Dahl story.

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For those not familiar with the classic children’s book, “The Witches” tells the story of a retired witch hunter and her grandson who take on a group of evil witches. Fairly simple stuff, in the big picture sense. However, it appears that the director is making one major change from the novel. He’s changing the setting and the time-period for his adaptation.

In a new interview with French outlet Allocine, Zemeckis talks about his version of the Dahl story, saying, “We’re going to set it in the Gothic South in the 1960s. It’s an exciting way to put a sociological spin on this kind of witch story.”

As for the status of the project, Zemeckis says that casting is underway but they have yet to make any choices on who will play the titular characters.

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It’ll be interesting to see what the filmmaker does with “The Witches.” Most recently, Zemeckis is perhaps best known for utilizing a hot technology for his films, whether it’s 3D or motion capture. Without a doubt, there’ll be some technological wrinkle that the director will bring to “The Witches.”

Back in 1990, Warner Bros. released a film adaptation of the story, starring Anjelica Huston. While that film has found a bit of cult classic status among some film fans, Roald Dahl, himself, said the film was “utterly appalling.” So, whatever Zemeckis has up his sleeve, it’s sure to be divisive.