Sam Raimi‘s Oz the Great and Powerful

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(via Cinematical)


Deadline now reports that Sam Raimi has signed on to direct Robert Downey Jr. in Disney's Wizard of Oz prequel, Oz: The Great and Powerful.

The deal was finalized last night, making this Raimi's first directorial project since leaving Spider-Man 4.

Ever since Sam Mendes told Disney he wouldn't direct the Wizard of Oz prequel, Oz, the Great and Powerful, a number of filmmakers have been linked to the project as possible substitutes. Even Guillermo del Toro was rumored to be considered. But now Sam Raimi has officially accepted the gig.

The Spider-Man trilogy director would team up with Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr., who has long been set to play the titular "wizard" for the origin story, which has been scripted by Mitchell Kapner (The Whole Nine Yards).

Disney apparently wants to get this going soon, which makes sense given there are about a billion other Oz-based films in the works at various studios, so it would likely be his next film.

If Raimi is now headed to Oz, he won't end up doing The Hobbit, for which he was thought next in line after Del Toro's departure from that prequel. And he won't end up doing a World of Warcraft movie either.

Fans would rather see what a Raimi-directed Oz movie looks like than let the project fall into the hands of other less visionary directors like Adam Shankman and Timur Bekmambetov, both of whom have been candidates. There are more fans of the darker sort of L. Frank Baum adaptations, such as Disney's own Return to Oz, and they can now look forward to something along the tone of the Evil Dead movies.

And who wouldn't like to see Bruce Campbell as any number of Oz characters?

[fortunato]

Hmmmmmm. Wow.

[ChronoGrl]

Hmmmmmm. Wow.

My response exactly.

I'm intrigued but, uhm, I kinda want Raimi to go back to horror...

...

Couldn't be worse than Alice in Wonderland, though. :rolleyes:

[neverending]

Sure it could. Have you seen The Wiz?

[fortunato]

Sure it could. Have you seen The Wiz?

Haha, that's true.

I'd like Raimi to go back to horror, too. He did such a good job with Drag Me To Hell. Horror has always seemed to come naturally to him, but on most everything else he just seems to fall short.

[ChronoGrl]

Sure it could. Have you seen The Wiz?

LOL - Good call. I always thought that The Wiz was ridiculously overrated - I never got its appeal, but Heaven forbid I say that in front of my die-hard theater friends... :rolleyes:

Haha, that's true.

I'd like Raimi to go back to horror, too. He did such a good job with Drag Me To Hell. Horror has always seemed to come naturally to him, but on most everything else he just seems to fall short.

DEFINITELY agree - I really don't care for the Spiderman movies much at all... Quick and the Dead was a fun watch, though... But not as good as Drag Me To Hell or any of the Evil Dead films. The Gift was OK, but not really anything that I'd need to see again (definitely falls into the "fell short" category). Simple Plan wasn't bad... But again, not as good as his horror.

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Sam Raimi‘s semi-prequel to The Wizard of Oz has a villainess. Oz: The Great and Powerful already had James Franco set to play the man who becomes the wizard, and Mila Kunis as the witch Theodora. (Spelled ‘Theadora’ in today’s trade break.) That character has an evil sister, Evanora, and that is the role that Rachel Weisz is now negotiating to take.

So that leaves Glinda to cast — that being the character who survives to be the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz.

(The Mila Kunis character — spoiler! — becomes the Wicked Witch of the West.)

Olivia Wilde, Amy Adams, Kate Beckinsale, Keira Knightley and Rebecca Hall have all been said to be on a shortlist for the remaining two sisters in the wake of casting Mila Kunis as Theodora. We don’t know who was testing for Evanora, and who for Glinda.

And giving the fate of the two sisters that show up in The Wizard of Oz, might we surmise that Rachel Weisz won’t meet a very good fate in this movie? She is the villainess, after all. But might she also have a reversal of disposition at some point, especially if Theodora ends up hateful? Possibly.

James Franco portrays a fast-talking snake oil salesman and illusionist who flees a traveling circus and winds up whisked away in a hot air balloon by a tornado to Oz where he must face off against real magic and the sisters battling for control of the land. Theodora starts out as a good witch, alongside her beautiful sister Glinda, but after her sexual advances are jilted by Franco’s salesman, she’s convinced by Evanora to switch sides and help her older sister rule Oz.

[Fearonsarms]

This might turn out to be quite good.

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Shooting has commenced officially. Cinematographer Peter Deming (Evil Dead II, Drag Me to Hell, Lost Highway) is shooting.

Additionally, Howard Berger is “[creating] the looks of several of the unique denizens of Oz, including creatures such as the Whimsies, the Tinkers and the Winkies, as well as the ghastly look of the Wicked Witch of the West.”

James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams lead the cast.

James Franco plays the young wizard Oz; Mila Kunis is the witch Theodora; Rachel Weisz is Kunis’ sister Evanora and Michelle Williams is Glinda, the Good Witch. Zach Braff will play Franco’s circus assistant as well as lend his vocal talents to one of the CGI creatures in the story — Finley, the winged monkey who accompanies the magician on his journey to Oz; and 12-year-old actress Joey King will voice another CGI character in the story, China Girl, who also joins the future Wizard on his excursion through Oz.

Oz The Great and Powerful imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum’s beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

[leezuki]

i am looking forward to watching this,been waiting for years for this prequel.

[SaltSlasher]

Yeah Sam's non-horror isnt that great. I love spider-man, just not the 3 spider-man movies he made.

I watched Evil Dead the other day on Netflix, and it is such a classic. I would just love to see Raimi's work on another horror again! I know it ain't the 80s but the themes, plots and style is still boss in my book of radness.

I have mix emotions, cause Raimi's only work that he has written is Evil Dead, and then has these bombs like the screenplay for spider-man 3, then a hand full of whatevers. Yeah he produced but his only great work is the Evil Dead and Drag me, and Evil Dead 1 n 2 were that much different and three was a bomb. Besides for that I wouldn't call him a great Director, Writer or Actor.

I mean look at romero, he has written several masterpieces with only one bad script(survival of the dead). Were talking the "Night, Dawn, n Day's of's", Kinghrider, Martin, The Crazies x2, Creepshow 1n2, and directed all of them to.

[The Villain]

The Possession sounds interesting which is Raimi produced.

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Bruce Campbell is full of big announcements this summer. First, he confirmed that a remake of Evil Dead is officially in the works. (With Diablo Cody on board to help write the script no less.) And now, the actor has just tweeted that he will work with his long-time collaborator Sam Raimi once again in Oz: The Great and Powerful.

Just an hour ago, the actor Tweeted that he would definitely be featured in Raimi’s prequel to the 1939 classic:

“I. Am. In. Oz. Sam Raimi refuses to tell me what character I will portray. Just know that the role is PIVOTAL.”

Campbell joins James Franco (who will play the title character) as well as Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz, who will play the three witches.

Walt Disney Pictures has given the mega-budgeted movie a March 8, 2013 release date.

Cambell has worked with Raimi, whom he met in high school, on a number of projects including the Evil Dead series, the Spider-Man series, Darkman and The Quick and the Dead.

[leezuki]

i rekon sam raimi will do fantastic job with oz, i just cant wait to see his style on this movie, will it be dark and creepy or family musical like the original ?

[ferretchucker]

I agree on the Alice in Wonderland, front. It takes a lot more than lowering the saturation and making everyone pale to make something truly creepy. I'm looking forward to this, but I'm not ecstatic. I too want to see another horror from Raimi - he's one of the last great tailors of original horrors..

[ChronoGrl]

So I just saw a trailer for Oz: The Great and Powerful (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623205/) (to be released next year) and somehow it escaped me that it's being directed by our beloved Mr. Raimi.

_1NGnVLDPog

The trailer is visually stunning and quite EPIC but I am skeptical because:

Disney
Produced by the same company that did Burton's Alice and Wonderland, which I thought was pretty but ultimately without substance


I'm intrigued, though. It's the kind of thing that I would like to see succeed as I do enjoy a good fantasy movie (and my Dad read the Oz books to me when I was a wee lass so of course there's the nostalgia element too).

Thoughts? Reactions?

I'd prefer that Raimi go back to his horror roots, but I hope this is enjoyable.

[hammerfan]

I like the look of the preview. I think it'll be good.

[Angra]

I like the look of the preview. I think it'll be good.

Yea, I feel the same way.

I believe more in this one than i do in the Evil Dead remake. Not saying that Evil Dead looks bad by any means, i'm just saying Oz looks more memorable. :)

[Ice Pik]

I'm just glad they didn't decide to go with the Tim Burton/johnny Depp thing again.

Might be good. They just need to stay true to the books and the original movie.