The Witches set for premium VOD release this October
David Farnor | On 13, Oct 2020
The Witches will head straight to digital platforms in the UK, with a premium VOD release set for this October.
From director Robert Zemeckis, the remake of the fantasy adventure Roald Dahl’s The Witches stars Anne Hathaway (Ocean’s 8) and Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water) alongside Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games), Kristin Chenoweth (Glee) and Chris Rock. Newcomer Jahzir Kadeem Bruno (Atlanta) also stars, alongside Codie-Lei Eastick (Holmes & Watson).
Reimagining Dahl’s story for a modern audience, the film tells the darkly humorous and heartwarming tale of a young orphaned boy (Bruno) who, in late 1967, goes to live with his loving Grandma (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 (Hathaway) has gathered her fellow cronies from around the globe—undercover—to carry out her nefarious plans.
The screenplay is by Robert Zemeckis, Kenya Barris (black-ish) and Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water), while Alan Silvestri (Polar Express) is on composing duties.
The film was originally set for a cinema release in the UK on 28th October, but after the decision to release the movie directly online in the USA, Warner Bros UK has now decided to release the film online on 26th October, as a 48-hour premium VOD rental. The decision follows Cineworld’s decision to temporarily close its cinemas, while Odeon and Vue will be closing some of their cinemas for a few days each week. It also follows the early digital release of Scoob! and Finding the Way Back online by Warner Bros UK this summer.
Here’s the trailer: