ABC has given a put pilot order to a new version of the supernatural tale “The Witches of Eastwick,” to be written by Maggie Friedman (“Dawson’s Creek”). Variety says the new “Witches” is said to be a variation on the 1987 feature of the same name.
The movie, which starred Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer, was based on the John Updike novel about three women who turn to witchcraft after losing (or booting) the men in their lives. They conjure up a devil-like character, who then proceeds to seduce all three of them.
Warner Bros. TV has been looking to create a smallscreen version of the franchise for years. In 1992, writers Carlton Cuse and Jeffrey Boam were behind a “Witches of Eastwick” pilot for NBC. That version starred Catherine Mary Stewart, Julia Campbell, Ally Walker and Michael Siberri.
Fox developed a different version, also with Warner Bros. TV, in 2002. The abbreviated-titled “Eastwick,” from exec producer Jim Leonard and scribes Jon Cowan and Robert Rovner, focused on the teenage sons of the original witches. Lori Loughlin, Marcia Cross and Kelly Rutherford starred.
