Forrest Gump fame director Robert Zemeckis is in final negotiations to direct Warner Bros’ adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic book, The Witches. Based on the 1973 novel, the film follows a seven-year-old boy who has a run in with real-life witches. 

Warner Bros had previously loosely adapted the book in 1990 with Anjelica Huston playing one of the title characters, but Zemeckis’ version is expected to be more rooted in the original source material. 

Zemeckis, who has previously directed dramas like Flight and Allied, was expected to take the reins of DCEU's Flash starring Ezra Miller for Warner Bros, but instead ended up directing Welcome to Marven, a fantasy drama starring Steve Carrell set in World War II. 

Warner Bros were keen to get The Back to the Future franchise creator on board for the Dahl adaptation. And it looks the director will be back to his family friendly roots with The Witches, for which he is expected to pen the script as well as co-produce it through his banner ImageMovers.