In 1987, Warner Brothers released what could be described as a "blockbuster" movie based on Updike's novel.

The screen version of The Witches of Eastwick had an all-star cast: The three witches were played by Cher (Alexandra), Susan Sarandon (Jane), and Michelle Pfeiffer (Sukie), and Jack Nicholson was cast in the role of Darryl Van Home.

Directed by veteran George Miller, who had achieved notoriety through his work on the Mad Max movies, the motion picture follows loosely the story Updike relates in his novel. There are a number of significant differences, however, most notably the shift of focus from the three witches to the figure of the devil. Not surprisingly, Nicholson steals the show with his caricature of Satan; many reviewers noted how closely the character of Darryl Van Home resembles the principal character in the movie version of Stephen King's The Shining (1980), a motion picture which established...