Oz: The Great and Powerful is a highly talked about upcoming prequel to 1939's The Wizard of Oz. It is being produced by Disney, and there have been plenty of rumors about who is to direct it. It was first thought that Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Away We Go) would direct, but we found out that was not true. Then, after the news that Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hell Boy) would not be helming The Hobbit came out, it seemed that he was tied to the project. Others like Baz Luhrmann, Tim Bekmambatov, and Adam Shankman were rumored to direct.
Just a couple of days ago, we heard that Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spider-man) may take the reigns on the film, and now it has been confirmed.
This is...bitter-sweet for me. The film does seem like a great vehicle for Raimi, but I think he'd be better suited for some other projects. Say...The Hobbit? Ever since I heard that Guillermo del Toro would not be directing The Hobbit, I began wondering who else could take his spot (since Peter Jackson is out of the question). And the obvious answer for me was Sam Raimi. The horror films from early in Raimi's career were a massive inspiration to Peter Jackson (Director of The Lord of The Rings Trilogy), and lead him to create some of his films like Brain Dead and Bad Taste. Since Peter Jackson did such a great job on The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, and he and Sam Raimi have such similar origins, I figured Raimi would be a good choice to direct The Hobbit. Unfortunately, he's going to be busy with this movie. Let's just hope The Hobbit is put in good hands. Which would not include the hands of Brett Ratner.
The movie will star Robert Downey Jr. as The Wizard, and will be in (gasp!) 3D...how original. It will be about how The Wizard got to Oz and how he became it's ruler. I enjoy Robert Downey Jr. as an actor and Raimi as a director. Hopefully they can make the best out of this film, and not have it turn into another Burton-esque nightmare like Alice in Wonderland.
-MV
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