Anne Hathaway to star as Grand High Witch in ‘The Witches’ remake

Anne Hathaway is all set to play the Grand High Witch in the remake of Roald Dahl’s classic The Witches.

Hathaway was holding the offer for both that and “Sesame Street,” and at the time, scheduling for both films were holding up dealmaking. With those issues settled, Hathaway is now set to star in the role originally portrayed by Anjelica Huston in the 1990 classic.

Based on the 1973 novel, the film follows a 7-year-old boy who has a run-in with real-life witches. Warner Bros. had previously adapted the book in 1990 with 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, while the Huston pic was a loose adaptation.

Zemeckis will also pen the script as well as produce with his partner Jack Rapke through their banner ImageMovers, along with Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro.

Zemeckis’ version is said to be a more faithful adaptation of Dahl’s 1983 book than Roeg’s vision, which made some key changes to the original story.