Fans looking forward to the Witch Mountain television series will sadly be disappointed, as star Bryce Dallas Howard confirmed Disney has scrapped the project. In 2019, Disney announced it was reviving the Witch Mountain franchise as a series for its new streaming platform, Disney+. The cast included Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), Levi Miller (Pan), Isabel Gravitt (American Housewife), Bianca “b” Norwood (You), and Jackson Kelly (Chucky). The series, much like the original films, would have focused on extraterrestrial kids on Earth.
A pilot for Witch Mountain was filmed, but that appears to be all that will ever come from it. While attending Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, Bryce Dallas Howard participated in a panel moderated by Collider’s Maggie Lovitt, where she revealed that Disney has passed on Witch Mountain. Howard said that despite having a good time filming the pilot, the series is not moving forward, and that is sadly the state of the industry, as some projects never get past the pilot stage. Howard said:
“It’s not happening, which is disappointing. It was a really great groove, and we really all enjoyed shooting it here in Toronto. Some things make it, and some things don’t, and that’s the unfortunate truth of this industry.”
Escape From Streaming
Escape to Witch Mountain is based on a 1968 book by Alexander Key that focuses on extraterrestrial children looking to return home to their planet. It was adapted into one of Disney’s longest-running and underrated franchises in the late ’70s/early ’80s, with a trilogy that includes 1975’s Escape to Witch Mountain, 1978’s Return to Witch Mountain, and 1982’s Beyond Witch Mountain. In 1995, Disney produced a TV remake titled Escape to Witch Mountain that featured Mad Men‘s Elisabeth Moss in one of her first screen credits. In 2009, Disney rebooted the franchise with Race to Witch Mountain, starring Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, AnnaSophia Robb, and Alexander Ludwig.
Witch Mountain, the television series, was announced during the early days of Disney+ when the studio was looking to release smaller mid-budget films and television series based on its vast IP catalog, including titles from the recently acquired 20th Century Fox. That is how Disney+ ended up with shows based on Willow, Turner & Hooch, and The Mighty Ducks. While former CEO Bob Chapek quickly looked to cash in on streaming releases, since Disney CEO Bob Iger returned, the studio has been scaling back on many projects it previously announced. Earlier this year, Bob Iger referenced that Disney had quietly canceled some movies, which seems to be the case with some television series as well.
Witch Mountain would not be the first high-profile television series based on Disney IP to get the ax. Nautilus, a 10-part miniseries based on Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, was initially ordered by Disney+ before it was scrapped. Since then, AMC has acquired streaming rights in the United States and Canada, with Prime Video getting the United Kingdom and Ireland release. Disney+ was also set to debut The Spiderwick Chronicles, as it acquired the book rights when it acquired 20th Century Fox, which produced the 2008 feature film. When Disney+ backed out, Roku acquired the streaming rights, and the series debuted on April 19, 2024. In both cases, Disney scrapped already completed works, while Witch Mountain never got past the pilot stage. It appears that the gold rush of streaming that Disney kicked off in 2019 is quickly coming to an end as the studio reevaluates spending.
