HBO Max The Witches (2020)

[Jake Lipson]

Title: The Witches

Tagline: They're Real!

Genre: Fantasy, Comedy

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Codie-Lei Eastick, Jahzir Bruno, Chris Rock, Philippe Spall, Charles Edwards, Morgana Robinson, Simon Manyonda, Jonathan Livingstone, Eurydice El-Etr, Katie Hardwick, Abi Adeyemi, Eugenia Caruso, Kristin Chenoweth

Release: 2020-10-22

Plot: Based on Roald Dahl's 1973 classic book 'The Witches', the story tells the scary, funny and imaginative tale of a seven year old boy who has a run-in with some real-life witches!

 

[Jake Lipson]

Robert Zemeckis' remake of The Witches is no longer a theatrical release in the United States. It has been moved to HBO Max and will debut three weeks from now.

Anne Hathaway-Robert Zemeckis Movie ‘Roald Dahl’s The Witches’ Heads To HBO Max This Month

Anne Hathaway - Robert Zemeckis Movie 'Roald Dahl’s The Witches' Skips Theaters For HBO Max

deadline.com

Ironically, the original film version of The Witches from 1990 is currently licensed to Netflix and appears there.

Here's the trailer:



On the one hand, it's nice that we don't have to wait to see this. I had expected WB to try and release this next Halloween instead of this one.

On the other hand, I'm sure Robert Zemeckis and his team have been working hard to make this a visually striking film, and it's too bad there won't be a theatrical release for it. If it had been released in a normal situation, there is no way I would miss this in a theater.

Also, are they going to put out a soundtrack for what is now an HBO Max original film? Alan Silvestri scored it, as he does for Zemeckis all the time, so I'm sure that will be good too, and if it is I would like to be able to get it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Has anyone else seen this yet?

Now that HBO Max is on Roku, I finally got to watch it. The Witches was/is a seminal book from my childhood, and I like lots of people involved in this adaptation, so I was really looking forward to it this year. Fortunately, it didn't disappoint.

Despite the mostly negative reviews, I am pleased to say that I actually liked it very much. As indicated In the trailer, the biggest change from the novel was relocating the action to America. Aside from that, it is very faithful to the novel. Octavia Spencer doesn't play the same type of grandmother as written, but she's Octavia Spencer so that's fine. She is very warm and likable in the role. Anne Hathaway is over the top and hammy as the Grand High Witch, which for this character felt entirely appropriate. She is obviously having a blast doing it and I found that equally fun to watch. I really don't have anything bad to say about this. Robert Zemeckis filled it with a lot of cool visual flair, and Alan Silvestri did his usual beautiful job on the score.

If things were different now, meaning no COVID, I certainly would have enjoyed seeing this as a theatrical release. But I really enjoyed watching it at home tonight. I was really happy while I was watching it. Which is saying something for 2020.

It's not the best film ever made or anything. And it doesn't touch The BFG, which is still the Dahl adaptation that feels closest to the tone of what Dahl wrote.

But -- surprise -- I thought it was really good. When you start playing it, there's a brief screen designating it as a "Max Original." There is no question that if it had had a traditional rollout as a theatrical release, it would have received a Blu-ray release. I hope that it still does at some point next year, because I would absolutely buy it if that were the case.

 

[Jake Lipson]

As an update, Amazon UK is listing a Blu-ray which was released there on December 14. Of course, they don't have HBO Max there yet. However, the blu-ray.com database says it is Region B locked, so if that's right I wouldn't be able to play it here anyway.

As far as I know, there has been no Blu-ray announced for the United States as of yet. Although I am grateful that I got to see the film on HBO Max yesterday, it would suck if pivoting there would prevent it from receiving a domestic disc release.

 

[Malcolm R]

The Amazon UK listing says it's Region Free. It seems likely, as most major studio releases are Region Free these days. It's usually when they start licensing titles to smaller boutique labels in the different territories that we run into a region lock. If Warner is distributing worldwide, there's not really any reason to have it locked.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The Amazon UK listing says it's Region Free.

Thanks for that. It's odd; I didn't notice it saying that when I looked last night.

The movie debuted on HBO Max in October, so it would be a little early for a domestic home release anyway. I'll likely wait a few more months to see if they announce one for early next year, then would consider importing if it doesn't materialize.