Oz, The Great and Powerful - Wizard of Oz prequel

[The Mike]

Robert Downey Jr. May Play Wizard In 'Oz' Prequel
Directors Sam Mendes and Adam Shankman are both in running to helm 'Oz, The Great and Powerful.'
by Adam Rosenberg

"Iron Man 2" star Robert Downey Jr. may soon be traveling to the Land of Oz, led by "American Beauty" director Sam Mendes ... or by "Hairspray" director (and "So You Think You Can Dance" judge) Adam Shankman.

The report comes from the combined reportage of Production Weekly, via Twitter, and the Los Angeles Times. Just hours after Mendes was named on Twitter as a "front-runner" to direct Downey Jr. in a prequel to "The Wizard of Oz" titled "Oz, The Great and Powerful," the Times chimed in with word that Shankman is being considered as well.

Producer Joe Roth is developing the project, which comes from a script by Mitchell Kapner. Kapner based his story (initially pitched to Disney as "Brick") "on parts of a number of ['Oz' author] L. Frank Baum books." Audiences will learn of the circumstances that led the Wizard, originally a charlatan from Kansas, to gift brains and hearts to those in need from behind his curtain in Oz's splendid Emerald City.

The Kapner/Roth take on the Wizard's origins is described as "dark and complex," putting it in league with Gregory Maguire's popular spin-off novel "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," which has itself been adapted as a stage production. The proposed story's darker angle makes Mendes the more likely choice, as the Times suggests. Moreover, Roth has already seen such success with this year's "Alice in Wonderland," on which he served as a producer.

"Oz, The Great and Powerful" is one of several projects in development that would use as inspiration Baum's original work of fantastical fiction. There's a CGI take on the original book and an adaptation of the Caliber Comics series "Oz" and a loosely interpreted, contemporary version of the original story, starring Sean Astin, Christopher Lloyd and Lance Henriksen. And add to that list the long-in-development Warner Bros. project scripted by Josh Olson, "Oz: The Return to Emerald City."

 

[Darth Waller]

I'm getting tired of sequels, prequels and remakes, but with the names mentioned for this film, I must say I'm intrigued.

 

[Batty]

Downey will obviously play the Tin Man.

 

[Darthrazz]

Can't we just get Tom Hanks to play EVERYONE in the film?

 

[BadMoon]

Sounds good to me!

 

[karamazov80]

Wizard of Oz was a revolutionary movie, but I don't need to see any more of that story/universe.

Wife drug me to see Wicked in Chicago a couple years ago. It was alright I guess, but nothing mind-blowing.

 

[Masao]

They can't even adapt a comic book correctly. How can they expect handle anything like Oz??

With 33 untouched novels available, you would think these 'geniuses' could come up with at least one decent sequel film. It is not like they have to 'create' (gasp!) anything new.

And about Robert Downey jr. Great role model for kids. "See, you can take drugs, get arrested multiple times and be a success!"

Thanks H'w'd!

 

[karamazov80]

Was RDJ trying to act as a role model for children? If this story is similar to Wicked and is supposed to be "dark and complex," possibly directed by Sam Mendes, then I don't see it being G-rated Disney fare.

I should say, however, that the number of kids who were in the Alice in Wonderland showing I went to surprised me.

 

[The Mike]

RDJ only gets the "role model" label because he is in Iron Man which is marketed to kids, its ironic since Tony Stark himself is an alcoholic poonhound who even though is atoning with Iron Man still doesn't change his ways completely. RDJ never has been a role model, never has portrayed himself that way so to pin him with that is ridiculous. To add fuel to the fire, using celebrities in any medium as role models is ridiculous but that is a whole different Oprah.

 

[Maglor]

I thought Tim Burton was doing an OZ movie...

 

[The Mike]

Burton is doing Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of Maleficent but I'm sure he'll get his hands on OZ eventually.

 

[CelticPredator]

Burton should do Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the audience.

 

[Maglor]

Burton is doing Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of Maleficent but I'm sure he'll get his hands on OZ eventually.

Looks like your right. Last month Wikipedia listed Wizard of OZ under Burton's filmgraphy as an upcoming movie.

Guess that's why you gotta be careful with Wiki.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

RDJ only gets the "role model" label because he is in Iron Man which is marketed to kids, its ironic since Tony Stark himself is an alcoholic poonhound who even though is atoning with Iron Man still doesn't change his ways completely. RDJ never has been a role model, never has portrayed himself that way so to pin him with that is ridiculous. To add fuel to the fire, using celebrities in any medium as role models is ridiculous but that is a whole different Oprah.

the wise Mike has spoken words of wisdom yet again. I don't think RDJ has, or ever will claim to be a role model for kids. I would however like to see him speak on behalf of substance abuse treatment, and share his story of how he managed to overcome his addiction.

~~Regardless of how many mistakes you make in life..as long as you're still alive you have a second chance to redeem yourself.

 

[Buttmunch]

If they want to do a prequel to the Wizard of Oz, why not cash in on Wicked?

 

[Sire]

YES! Make a Wicked film??

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

a prequel? oh boy!

 

[The Mike]

Wicked has been optioned into a film. Baz Luhrman was attached to it and so was Marc Platts Productions (they did Wanted). The thing is that Wicked focuses on the Witches while this film will focus on the Wizard. It's like if instead of making an encompassing prequel they did a film on Obi-Wan and another on Padme.

 

[The Mike]

Raimi involved would make the look interesting...

Sam Raimi Offered Director’s Chair for Oz, the Great and Powerful
Posted on Friday, June 11th, 2010 by Russ Fischer

In late April, we started to hear about a new tentpole brewing over at Disney. Oz, the Great and Powerful is a prequel of sorts to The Wizard of Oz, with Robert Downey, Jr. attached to star in the title role. At the time this first came up, the two directors in the running seemed to be Sam Mendes and Adam Shankman, but now an offer has actually gone out to someone much better suited to the film: Sam Raimi.

Vulture says the offer went out early this morning, but the report has no confirmation one way or the other about whether Raimi is likely to take it. We’ve wondered what he would do next, since Sony scrapped plans for a fourth Raimi-directed Spider-Man movie. He’s got a deal with Warner Bros. to develop and make a film based on the video game World of Warcraft, but that still seems to be a way off.

Oz, the Great and Powerful is a script by Mitchell Kapner that was called Brick earlier this year. As I said when we first reported on this, Kapner’s script takes the idea that the Wizard is also transported to Oz from Kansas, and details how he came to be the power seen in The Wizard of Oz. Kapner based the script off of a collection of influences from L. Frank Baum’s Oz books as well as some ideas of his own to produce a story that suggests “the wizard is a charlatan who’s part of a traveling circus but goes on a similar odyssey as Dorothy when he mysteriously lands in Oz.”

Meanwhile, Vulture notes that there are two other Oz films actually in development at Warner Bros. right now. One is Wizard of Oz (a remake?) written by Josh Olson. The other is Oz, at New Line, written by Darren Lemke with Twilight producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey behind it. That’s typical, however, especially of late. Everyone seems to have the same ideas, and it’s a matter of what can be pulled together first.

And note that when I say that Raimi is a much better choice for this film than Mendes or Shankman, that isn’t the same as saying it would be the best film for him to make. I’d rather see him doing any number of projects other than this Oz prequel. But if you’re producing Oz, the Great and Powerful, Raimi has to seem like the brass ring. This is right in his wheelhouse, and I do have to say: seeing him work with Downey could be great stuff.

(Then again, Vulture doesn’t mention Downey at all in this report, which leads me to wonder if he’s not as closely tied to this as has been reported.)

 

[CelticPredator]

DO WANT SO ____ING MUCH. Raimi = me in the seat.