Anne Hathaway to star in Robert Zemeckis' The Witches adaptation

There's a new Grand High Witch in town. Following her turns in Serenity and Ocean's 8, Anne Hathaway will now star in Robert Zemeckis' adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches, EW has learned.

In the original film, released in 1990, a young boy discovers witches are real and they hate children most of all. Anjelica Huston famously portrayed the Grand High Witch, the leader of all earthly witches, and now Hathaway will succeed the actress in the latest cinematic retelling of Dahl's 1973 novel.

Zemeckis will direct and write the film, which he'll also produce with Jack Rapke, Guillermo Del Toro, and Alfonso Cuarón.

Huston previously told EW that director Nicolas Roeg "made the ultimate Witches" with the first movie, but it's apparently not a sentiment Dahl shared. According to Variety, which was the first to report the news of Hathaway's casting, Zemeckis' take on The Witches will skew closer to the source material.

Related content:

• Robert Zemeckis to write and direct adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches
• Anjelica Huston says she doesn't 'really know why' Hollywood would remake The Witches