Bryce Dallas Howard In Talks To Join A Beloved Disney Reboot
Witch Mountain, a new Disney+ series based on the 1970s films, is eyeing Bryce Dallas Howard for a role.
Bryce Dallas Howard should just be given an office at Disney. After working on multiple projects for the House of Mouse, including directing multiple episodes of their live-action Star Wars series, the 41-year-old daughter of director Ron Howard is in talks to join another Disney series, as an actress. According to a report from The Illuminerdi, Howard may likely star in a reboot series of the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain, titled simply Witch Mountain.
Escape to Witch Mountain and its 1978 sequel Return to Witch Mountain followed two orphans with extraordinary powers: Tia (played by current Real Housewife of Beverly Hills Kim Richards) and Tony (Ike Eisenmann). It turns out they are aliens, and a millionaire is out to find them and exploit their powers. The original films starred Eddie Albert, Donald Pleasence, Ray Milland, Bette Davis, and Count Dooku himself, Christopher Lee.
The new series (planned as an hour-long drama) will offer a slight spin on the original premise, as it follows two teenagers who develop super powers, only to discover they are mixed-up in a town-wide conspiracy. In the new series, the teens are named Tia and Ben, and casting of their roles is ongoing. Bryce Dallas Howard is being eyed to play the role of Audrey in the Disney reboot, the single parent of Tia, so they’ll likely need to cast a redhead in the role.
Disney is also reportedly looking to cast Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) as Dr. Louise Schoolcraft, a scientist investigating a crashed alien artifact on an island, who hopes to exploit its technology.
Disney has taken a number of its past films and series and revived them with rebooted content for their Disney+ streaming services, so it’s no surprise they revisit the Witch Mountain movies, which had previously been rebooted with Dwayne Johnson in 2009 and sparked its own meme. That film starred AnnaSophia Robb and Carla Gugino.
Bryce Dallas Howard has directed episodes of both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett for Disney, which were well-received by fans. She recently voice the character of Yaddle for the new Star Wars animated series, Tales of the Jedi. Giant Freakin Robot reported exclusively that Howard is also in talks to direct an unannounced Star Wars project currently in development.
Howard is perhaps best known for her role as Claire in the Jurassic World trilogy of films, with Chris Pratt.
Disney+ has been all-in on reboot series for their service, including The Santa Clauses and Willow series that debut this month. They are also developing a National Treasure series based on the Nicolas Cage movies, and are also working to create an Indiana Jones live-action series.
The Witch Mountain series will be written by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett, who had previously teamed up for both Star Trek: Picard and the 12 Monkeys series for SyFy. Augustine Frizzell will direct the pilot, which is expected to begin shooting before the end of the year in Toronto.
