Bryce Dallas Howard is no stranger to helping relaunch classic franchises, from playing Claire Dearing in the Jurassic World films to starring in Disney’s underrated Pete’s Dragon remake released in 2016. Now it’s looking like Howard, who has likewise directed various Star Wars TV episodes and lent her voice to a fan-favorite character in Tales of the Jedi, is about to team up with the Mouse House once again. This time to star in a reboot of one of the studio’s oldest sci-fi IPs.
According to The Illuminerdi, Howard is currently in talks with Disney to lead new Disney Plus series Witch Mountain, as based on the 50-year-old film series that began with 1975’s Escape to Witch Mountain. Although yet to be confirmed, the streaming platform was previously announced to be developing such a project back in March 2021, so the outlet’s intel would appear reliable.
Witch Mountain is set to follow two teenagers, Tia and Ben, who develop superpowers but discover they are part of a town-wide conspiracy. While the two teen roles have yet to be cast, Howard is in line to play Audrey, a loving single parent to Tia, described as a “warm mama bear type.”
The White Lotus star Connie Britton is also circling the part of Dr. Louise Schoolcraft, “an intelligent and dynamic woman” who makes contact with an alien artifact and intends to use its technology for the advancement of mankind, regardless of the cost.
The original Witch Mountain movie spawned two sequels, 1978’s Return from Witch Mountain and 1982’s Beyond Witch Mountain, as well as a 1995 TV reboot and, most memorably, a 2009 legacy sequel titled Race to Witch Mountain that starred Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino.
Star Trek: Picard vets Terry Matalas and Travis Ficket are reportedly attached to spearhead the series, with Augustine Frizzell (Euphoria) among the directors. We’ll bring you more on this latest attempt from Disney to mine its past for new content as it comes in.
