wo years ago three filmmakers from Mexico took the international film scene by storm. Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Guillermo Del Toro were long time friends who happened to make three of the best films of 2006 (Children Of Men, Babel, and Pan’s Labyrinth). The three directors all helped each other make the brilliant films then formed a production company in the wake of their collective success. It was assumed that the three amigos who had been sporadic in their production schedules in the past would start to crank out movies and an increased rate. Sadly that never happened and the fledging production company has yet to have a film hit screens. However, two of the directors have finally announced that they will be collaborating on a project, although it is hardly one that could have been predicted.
Alfonso Cuaron will be producing and adaptation of Rald Dahl’s The Witches with Guillermo Del Toro set to direct. Dahl’s is of course one of the most beloved children’s novelists of all time who created a variety of children’s fantasies that gleefully indulged in macabre humor and refused to insult the intelligence of his young readership. The Witches is quite possibly his best work (and certainly his most sinister). Who could be better to adapt the story for the screen than these two visionary filmmakers who have each made masterpieces in the genre: Pan’s Labyrinth and Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (easily the best and most creative film of that franchise)?
Of course as exciting as this announcement is, it is brought down by one thing: The Witches has already been adapted into a pretty decent movie by Nicholas Roeg. Sure, the film had a tacked on happy ending that stunk of studio interference, but other than that it was a very faithful adaptation that did a fine job of capturing the spirit of the novel. It’s great that Cuaron and Del Toro are collaborating on a Roald Dahl adaptation because they will undoubtedly do wonderful things with the book, but I can’t help but be disappointed that they are taking on a work that already has a solid movie adaptation. On the bright side, the directors seem to be conscious of this with Cuaron noting that "[our movie] won’t be like the original Nicolas Roeg version, which was a beautiful film.” It will be a few years before we get to see this movie as Del Toro still has to make his Hobbit films. Still…this is sure to be something special.
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wo years ago three filmmakers from Mexico took the international film scene by storm. Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Guillermo Del Toro were long time friends who happened to make three of the best films of 2006 (Children Of Men, Babel, and Pan’s Labyrinth). The three directors all helped each other make the brilliant films then formed a production company in the wake of their collective success. It was assumed that the three amigos who had been sporadic in their production schedules in the past would start to crank out movies and an increased rate. Sadly that never happened and the fledging production company has yet to have a film hit screens. However, two of the directors have finally announced that they will be collaborating on a project, although it is hardly one that could have been predicted. 
