Never bathe again!

Okay, this is just seventeen different flavors of awesome:

[Guillermo] Del Toro has announced that he’s teaming with Alfonso Cuaron to adapt Roald Dahl’s The Witches. Guillermo will direct and write the adaptation with Cuaron producing. He tells Variety that the film will be smaller than other Dahl adaptations like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, but will be “most likely very much designed.”

If you’re unfamiliar with the name, Guillermo Del Toro is best known stateside for his work on Blade 2 and Hellboy. Neither of which were terrible (Blade 2 was better than it had any right to be, and Hellboy was more disappointing than outright bad), but more importantly, he also directed Chronos and The Devil’s Backbone, which are unequivocally terrific movies. Both show how well Del Toro can handle human drama alongside the fantastical, never letting one overwhelm the other; also important, both show Del Toro getting impressive performances out of child actors, which isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do.

Of course, this won’t be the first time Dahl’s macabre classic has been adapted for the screen- Nicholas Roeg’s version come out in 1990, less than two decades ago, which is quick turnaround for a remake. Normally, I’d think this was a horrible idea, but as I say in my review (which is totally brilliant, and I just linked to it, so don’t deny yourself the thrill any longer!), Roeg’s film doesn’t really do the source material justice. While it’s no sure thing, I believe Del Toro has at the least the potential of doing a better job, even if I’m not entirely sure what the hell he means by “very much designed.”

More Dahl all the time, that’s what I say; and here’s hoping that this time, they keep the original ending.