We’ve heard whisperings of a remake of the 1986 cult hit horror Witchboard for some years now, so were very excited to hear via Deadline earlier this year that the reboot was finally coming to life thanks to The Blob and Dream Warrior‘s Chuck Russell. Today, Deadline have confirmed that alongside Stranger Things‘ Jamie Campbell Bower, the upcoming Witchboard will also star Madison Iseman (Jumanji franchise), Aaron Dominguez (Only Murders in the Building), Antonia Desplat (Shantaram) and Ozark‘s Charlie Tahan.
Writer/director Kevin S. Tenney’s original Witchboard followed college students who play around with a Ouija board and – in a prime example of fuck around and find out – unleash a malevolent spirit unto the world. The plot synopsis for the reboot reveals an even witchier take:
The new film watches as recovering drug addict Emily (Iseman), her fiancé Christian (Dominguez) and a group of their friends open an organic café, refurbishing an old carriage house in New Orleans’ French Quarter. A darkness descends over Emily when she discovers an ancient pendulum board, once used to summon spirits, with Christian then seeking help for Emily from occult expert Alexander Babtiste. Babtiste, however, has secrets of his own, knowing the fateful bloodlines that binds them all to the Witchboard. A modern coven of White Witches, a masked ball at Babtiste’s mansion, and the legacy of Naga Soth, the Queen of Witches, are all then part of a dangerous game that puts Emily’s very soul at risk.
Deadline adds that we don’t yet have role details for Desplat or Tahan.
Russell is directing from his script co-written by Greg McKay, with the pair set to produce alongside Kade Vu and Bernie Gewissler, in an A-Nation Media production. The exec producers are Eric Schiermeyer, Sarah Buxton, John Paul Isham and Walter Josten.
The new talented additions to the cast have a good amount of horror credits between them already. Iseman has had roles in Annabelle Comes Home and Goosebumps 2: Slappy’s Revenge, as well as being one of the leads of Amazon’s recent series adaptation of I Know What You Did Last Summer and Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Stories. Tahan was recently part of the ensemble cast of Scott Cooper’s Gothic thriller The Pale Blue Eye, as well as Kevin Phillips’ bleak and brutal indie Super Dark Times.
While we wait to bring you more updates on Witchboard, why not re-acquaint yourself with the original slice of ’80s goodness via the trailer below? And remember kids, put down the planchette.
