Source: Variety

Guillermo del Toro is teaming with fellow Mexican helmer Alfonso Cuaron on an English-language adaptation of Roald Dahl's 1973 book THE WITCHES for Warner Bros, says Variety.

Del Toro is set to direct from his screenplay; Cuaron will produce through his New York-based company Esperanto.

"James and the Giant Peach" and "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" were both based on Dahl stories.

Del Toro said his "Witches" adaptation would be "quite smaller but most likely very much designed," alluding to the eye-popping look of the previous films. He has written 70-plus of what he expects will be a 100-page screenplay.

British director Nicolas Roeg made a big screen adaptation of the book in 1989.

Del Toro has not determined the start of principal photography, but then, he has a lot of balls in the air.

The futuristic thriller "Killing on Carnival Row" is set up at New Line. A screenplay has been delivered, said del Toro, but with no budget nor cast, the project has still to be greenlit. Other major studios are reviewing "Hellboy II," which was at Revolution Studios, as Sony has bowed out.