Everything We Know So Far About The Disney+ Witch Mountain Series With Bryce Dallas Howard

Since its launch in 2019, a pillar of Disney+ has been revisiting and building upon stories from across the Walt Disney Company's brands. Whether that's traveling deeper into a galaxy far, far away with new "Star Wars" shows, uncovering uncharted corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or catching up with fan-favorite characters from beloved shows and movies like "The Santa Clause," "Night at the Museum," or "Enchanted," the House of Mouse's streaming platform continues to offer interesting and exciting ways to revitalize their biggest franchises. Although, the service also creates an avenue to revitalize lesser-known or forgotten properties from Disney's past. With their 100th anniversary just around the corner, that's likely to happen a lot more in 2023. But even before the new year is upon us, the company has announced that they're taking another trip back to Witch Mountain.

Based on the 1968 sci-fi novel by Alexander Kay, the "Witch Mountain" franchise follows two orphaned teens with paranormal abilities as they learn more about their extraterrestrial pasts while on the run from people looking to take advantage of the duo. The first film in the series, "Escape to Witch Mountain," was released in 1975, followed by the sequel "Return From Witch Mountain" in 1978, with the Made-for-television movie "Beyond Witch Mountain" completing the original trilogy in 1982. Since then, Disney produced two remakes in an effort to revive the series: The 1995 adaptation for ABC's "The Magical World of Disney" and 2009's "Race to Witch Mountain" starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Now, hoping to make the third time the charm, Variety tells us that Disney+ has greenlit a pilot directed by Augustine Frizzell and written by Travis Fickett and Terry Matalas of "MacGyver" fame. Let's take a look at everything we know about the upcoming series "Witch Mountain" so far.

As it's still in such early stages of development, there is no release date for "Witch Mountain" at the moment. The project is still in the pilot phase currently and has not been given a full series order yet. However, if/when that happens, the series putting a modern spin on Alexander Kay's books will premiere on Disney+. Due to 2023 being the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney Company, there's a good chance that we could see the release before the end of next year. As soon as the premiere date is set, we'll be sure to provide an update. But in the meantime, you can watch the three theatrical "Witch Mountain" movies on the streaming service right now.

While previous adaptations of the "Witch Mountain" story have presented the orphans as siblings or twins, that doesn't appear to be the case in the latest version. In fact, it doesn't sound like the two characters actually know each other at the start of the series. According to the report, Travis Fickett and Terry Matalas' tale follows "two teens that develop strange abilities and discover their sleepy suburb may not be as idyllic as it seems." Based on that description, it seems like there are "X-Men: Evolution" or "The Gifted" vibes with some "The Stepford Wives," "WandaVision," and "Roswell" influences mixed in as well. Sign us up.

Marking the latest in a string of Disney collaborations that includes directing episodes of "The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett" and starring in "Pete's Dragon," Bryce Dallas Howard leads the cast of "Witch Mountain" as Audrey, the mother of Tia and widow of a husband that suffered from schizophrenia. She's described as "a warm mama bear type" who tries to reassure her daughter who fears a similar fate as her father. But like everyone else in this town, it seems like there's more to Audrey than meets the eye.

Tia, a "perfect" straight-A student who is extra critical of herself and afraid of failure, will be played by Isabel Gravitt from ABC's "American Housewife," the Hulu miniseries "Little Fires Everywhere," and "The Watcher" on Netflix. Thinking that she's heading down the same path as her late father, Tia has visions where those around her "step outside their living bodies and voice their deepest, darkest fears and desires and rages."

Making up the other half of the "Witch Mountain" equation is Levi Miller, who played the titular character in "Pan" opposite Hugh Jackman's Blackbeard and Garrett Hedlund's Hook, and his terrifying lead performance of Luke in "Better Watch Out." Levi stars as Ben, a troubled teenage hothead that recently discovered that he can force people around him to move as he sees fit. He also feels that he's inexplicably drawn to Tia for some reason (likely other than teenage hormones).

Rounding out the cast of series regulars are Bianca "b" Norwood and Jackson Kelly. Norwood's character, Corey, is Ben's closest friend who "puts more care into looking like a My Chemical Romance song that became an anime fan." Meanwhile, Kelly plays the lovesick Peter, Tia's closest male friend that is essentially the Duckie to her Andie a la "Pretty in Pink."