Roald Dahl's The Witches Heading to the Silver Screen

Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro told SCI FI Wire that he wants to make a more faithful film version of Roald Dahl's dark fantasy children's book The Witches, which was adapted for the screen once before, in 1990, by director Nicholas Roeg. "I liked a lot of the Roeg film, but I really, really disliked that the ending was changed, because I think the essence of the Dahl story is that the kid remains a mouse," said del Toro, who said The Witches is his favorite Dahl book. "Having said that, how the hell do I know that they won't change it on me again? They probably did that to Nicholas Roeg. So it may happen again. But I want to try."

In The Witches, a group of witches aims to rid England of all children, but their plot is thwarted by a resourceful little boy who won't give up, even after he's transformed into a tiny mouse.

Del Toro added: "Growing up, it was my favorite Dahl book. It was my favorite, because the witches represent adulthood. They represent the world. They represent all things that f--k up a kid. And I always thought it was great that the grandmother and the boy were essentially the same age and, therefore, were susceptible to witches that were in the guise of respectable old ladies. I thought Dahl has that subversive streak in him. It was there in his Unexpected tales, but it was also in his children's books. And much like H.H. Munro, Dahl has a very definitely sophisticated point of view on what the children's world is. That script is written. It's budgeted and awaiting a green light."