FirstLoveMovies

Race to Witch Mountain is an upcoming remake of the original 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain, using elements from the originating book of the same name. The film is directed by Andy Fickman and stars Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, and Carla Gugino. Filming began in Los Angeles in March 2008. Race to Witch Mountain is scheduled to be released on March 13, 2009.

Premise

Advancing the storyline from the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain, a Las Vegas cab driver (Dwayne Johnson) and a discredited astrophysicist (Carla Gugino) attempt to rescue two paranormal siblings (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig) from the hands of a villainous man (Ciarán Hinds).

Production

In July 2007, Walt Disney Pictures hired Andy Fickman to direct Witch Mountain, a "modern re-imagining" to Escape to Witch Mountain, using a script by Matt Lopez. The following August, actor Dwayne Johnson was cast into a lead role, with filming scheduled to begin in March 2008. Fickman did not describe the film as a remake, defining his production as "a new chapter within the world of Witch Mountain". The director also described the book in which the films are based as "a very cool dark thriller" and anticipated drawing elements from it that did not exist in the 1975 film. By March 2008, filmmakers were using a new script written by Mark Bomback. The film was re-titled Race to Witch Mountain, and it began filming in Los Angeles in the same month.

The convention center in Pomona, California was converted into the film's UFO Expo 9, and the interior of Witch Mountain was designed using photographs from a tour of NORAD's Cheyenne Mountain. A cabin for the story was also built in Agua Dulce, California. The director sought assistance from UFO experts, the military, and CIA advisers to shape the elements of the film. He also introduced a new element in the remake, an extraterrestrial creature called Siphon. The creature was conceived by the design team who created the look for Alien and Predator.