Robert Zemeckis has already started gathering the cast he needs for his next planned project, the long-gestating adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches. Anne Hathaway is already aboard to lead, and Octavia Spencer is joining the team.
Zemeckis' take, which he's also writing alongside Black-ish creator Kenya Barris, is looking to hew more closely to the 1973 novel than Nicolas Roeg's 1990 film. But it'll still tell the story of a seven-year-old boy who learns that witches are real and have a dark plan for the children of the world. Hathaway will play the role brought to life by Anjelica Huston in the '90s version.
Spencer is on board to be the grandmother of the boy, now likely to be played by newcomer Jahzir Bruno, while Codie-Lei Eastick is also in talks to sign on to the film in an unspecified role.
It's the latest big project for Spencer, who has also been flexing her producer muscles as one of the people behind the Oscar-nominated Green Book. In front of the camera, she'll be seen in indie drama Luce, Blumhouse thriller Ma and TV series Are You Sleeping.
Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire on Great Magazines and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.