Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great and Powerful

Sam Raimi is back!! After being unceremoniously ditched by Columbia off Spider-Man, he's gone over to Disney for his next film!! (You never would have thought the creator of The Evil Dead would work for Disney.) But, for his latest film, he's diving into the world of fantasy, and taking on one of the most beloved stories of all time. Well, not quite, it's a prequel to it all. He's taking on L. Frank Baum's magical world of Oz, and showing us how it all came to be in Oz: The Great and Powerful!!

It tells the story of a charismatic illusionist and showman (James Franco) who goes around with a travelling circus. But, his hot air balloon is whisked away in a tornado and taken to the magical land of Oz, ruled by two evil witches Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Theodora (Mila Kunis), but to help bring peace and harmony to the land of Oz, the illusionist has the help of the good witch Glinda (Michelle Williams).

So far, it sounds good, and Raimi is a perfect choice to do an Oz film. It's not going to be like The Wizard of Oz (1939), but Raimi will put his own unique stamp on Baum's universe. But, filming is set to start in July, with a release date of March 8th 2013. Raimi has got more cast together, including Zach Braff as bumbling assistant Frank. I bet Raimi finds a part in this for Bruce Campbell. But, he's got a good cast, and Franco is an inspired choice for the man who becomes the Wizard, but it looks like Raimi has picked himself up after Spider-Man and found something ideal.

Bruce Campbell joins the film!!

A welcome additon!

I knew Raimi would cast him!!

Saw this today, loved it. From the clever title sequence to some of the best use of 3-D I've seen this was a real treat.

I'm hoping to see it this week.

Silver wrote:

Saw this today, loved it. From the clever title sequence to some of the best use of 3-D I've seen this was a real treat.

Agreed. I loved the opening titles and it was good to see a 3D film that had a little fun with the format.