Two new additions have been made to the upcoming Anne Hathaway-led adaptation of Roahl Dahl’s The Witches. 

Octavia Spencer is joining Hathway as a part of the cast for the film, directed by Robert Zemeckis. Black-ish creator Kenya Barris has been tapped to co-write the next version of the script with Zemeckis. Guillermo del Toro wrote the first draft.

Del Toro was once supposed to direct, but Zemeckis took over the reins. Del Toro will still produce, along with Alfonso Cuaron.

The first The Witches film in 1990 starred Anjelica Huston, based on the 1983 novel that revolved around a boy who comes across a group of witches that hate children and his journey to stop them, all the while he’s now a mouse!

Young newcomers Jahzir Bruno and Codie-Lei Eastick are also in talks to join the cast. Bruno will play the young boy who has the run-in with the witches, and Eastick play another child who encounters them. Spencer will portray Bruno’s grandmother.

Variety says that the film will be more rooted in the source material of the novel than the 1990 film.

 

Photo: Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images