Bryce Dallas Howard to lead new series for Disney Plus
Disney has greenlit a pilot based on the Witch Mountain film franchise
Bryce Dallas Howard is set to lead a new television series based on the Witch Mountain franchise for Disney Plus.
Howard joins the cast alongside Isabel Gravitt as Tia (The Watcher), Levi Miller as Ben (Streamline), Bianca Norwood as Corey (We Crashed), and Jackson Kelly as Peter (Straight Man).
According to Variety, the project is a modern take on the franchise – which began with 1975's Escape to Witch Mountain – that follows "two teens that develop strange abilities and discover their sleepy suburb may not be as idyllic as it seems."
Howard is set to play Audrey, "Tia’s devoted and loving mother. Her husband died from a mental illness and she tries to reassure a fretful Tia that she shows no sign of following her father’s dark spiral. A warm mama bear type, but like everyone in this town, not everything is as it seems."
Star Trek: Picard writers Travis Fickett and Terry Matalas have penned the pilot, and also serve as executive producers, with Augustine Frizzell set to direct.
The Witch Mountain films, based on the 1968 novel Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key, follow extraterrestrial children who must find a way to return to their home planet. The original trilogy consists of Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Return from Witch Mountain (1978), Beyond Witch Mountain (1982). Disney rebooted the first film in 1995 with Disney's Escape to Witch Mountain, followed by 2009's Race to Witch Mountain, the latter of which stars Dwayne Johnson.
Howard recently reprised her role as Claire Dearing in Jurassic World Dominion, and is currently filming Matthew Vaughn's Argylle. She also provided the voice of Yaddle in Tales of the Jedi, in addition to directing episodes of both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
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Witch Mountain does not yet have a release date, though filming is set to begin soon in Canada.
For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2022 and beyond.
Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.