Last night I discovered the recently-released trailer for Oz: The Great and Powerful, the upcoming Sam Raimi-directed prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Here's the film summary from the official website:
Disney's fantastical adventure "Oz The Great and Powerful," directed by Sam Raimi, 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.
And here's the trailer:
I tend to be a bigger fan of Wizard of Oz reimaginings (such as the Tin Man miniseries) than the actual Dorothy story (I have a hard time separating the classic musical from its source material), so I'm pretty excited about this film. It is due to release March 8, 2013!
I'm at work, so I can't watch this until later, but that paused cap on the video made me grin. Is it just me, or did someone let the Cornish Pixies out of Hogwarts again?
ReplyDelete@Charity - LOL, you are SO right! If you get a chance let me know what you think of the trailer after you watch it -- I think the look of this film is very, very promising!
ReplyDeleteHm... interesting.
ReplyDeleteI am not a huge "OZ" fan BUT like you, I really enjoyed Tin Man. It looks very "old style" in the beginning before transitioning to some great color - and it looks like it will have quite the personality/imagination.
I just watched this trailer approx. 2 minutes before I saw your post about it. :) {I got a Disney email about it.}
ReplyDeleteIt looks interesting, I think. Is it based on one of the original books, I wonder? Probably not. I know there are lots of Oz books, but I haven't actually read any of them (though I own The Wizard of Oz and hope to read it this year). I do love the classic film, of course, and I like how apparently they're going to keep in tradition with the change from black and white/sepia to color. :)
It does look very much like the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland (I noticed they share the same producer). Which is not a bad thing, since I love that movie, but I hope it won't be too similar. :)
~Kristin
Not crazy about James Franco, but... this looks kind of cool.
ReplyDeleteFAB poster.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea.
Awesome teaser.
@Rissi - I loved the trailer's beginning too, nicely ties it to the classic film!
ReplyDelete@Kristin - LOL! That's where I saw this trailer first too!
@Charity - Me either...but maybe he'll surprise us! :)
@Juju - Isn't it though? :)