‘The Witches’ Remake Starring Anne Hathaway Is Coming to HBO Max This Month

HBO kicked off Spooky Season 2020 with a surprise announcement on Twitter Friday morning: The Witches movie starring Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer, is coming to HBO Max in the U.S.

And not only is The Witches coming to HBO Max, but The Witches HBO Max release date is really, really soon: October 22. That’s less than three weeks from now! Don’t you just love October surprises?

In addition to releasing on HBO Max in the U.S. on October 22, The Witches will also open in theaters internationally on October 28. HBO Max also dropped The Witches 2020 trailer, which you can watch above.

Based on the Roald Dahl book that traumatized you as a child, the 2020 adaptation of The Witches comes to you from Back to the Future and Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis, who also co-wrote the script with Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and the king of monster,  Guillermo del Toro. For those who were spared the terror of having their 4th-grade teacher read it aloud to them, The Witches follows a 7-year-old boy named Luke who is sent to live with his grandmother after his parents die in a car accident. He loves his grandmother’s stories about “real” witches, but surely they’re just stories, right? Obviously not! Luke finds himself face to face with some real witches, but luckily, little boys in children’s stories have ways of outsmarting adults.

Hathaway stars as the Grand High Witch, while Spencer stars as the young protagonist’s grandmother, and newcomer Jahzir Kadeem Bruno stars as the young lead, while Chris Rock voices him as a narrator. Stanely Tucci and Kristin Chenoweth also appear in supporting roles. A 1990 film adaptation of The Witches starred Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch, which Dahl disapproved of because it changed the book’s ending. Zemeckis’ film will reportedly be a more faithful adaptation. Zemeckis is also producing, alongside Jack Rapke, del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón and Luke Kelly.  Serving as executive producers are Jacqueline Levine, Marianne Jenkins, Michael Siegel, Gideon Simeloff and Cate Adams.

The Witches was originally scheduled to open in theaters this month and in June was pushed to open in theaters 2021. But it seems Warner Bros. has decided to go the straight-to-streaming route instead.

“This film, with its stellar cast, is outstanding,” said Casey Bloys, Chief Content Officer for HBO and HBO Max in a release sent to the press. “We are thrilled to be able to use our platform to deliver timely, relevant and engaging new content during this time when the theatrical experience is not available to everyone.”

The Witches (2020) will stream on HBO Max beginning October 22.

Where to watch The Witches