Stars Line Up For Wizard Of Oz Prequel

Director Sam Raimi, best known for his horror films, is about to shoot a modern version of one of his favorite films THE WIZARD OF OZ. A host of hot young talents are vying for roles in the redux, titled OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL. James Franco has already been cast as the dodgy salesman who escapes his latest conquest in a hot air balloon, only to be whisked away to the magical land of Oz. There, he meets three witches with differing temperaments: the noble Glinda the good witch (to be played by Michelle Williams), the evil Evanora the bad witch (to be played by Rachel Weisz) and the conflicted Theodora (to be played by Mila Kunis).  With a script by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire, the film will serve as a prequel to the celebrated 1939 classic, explaining the events that transpired before Dorothy showed up and began her journey down the yellow brick road. Filming kicks off this July in Michigan, and while there is no firm release date yet, the film’s distributor, Walt Disney Pictures, is hoping for a Summer 2012 marketing blitz.

FFT Webmaster

The FFT Webmaster use displays whenever an article has multiple authors. It also pops up on articles from old versions of Film Festival Today. The original author byline might be missing! In that case, if you are the author of such an article and see this bio instead of your own, please send us an email. Some of our contributors that might be missing bylines are: Brad Balfour, Laura Blum, and Sandy Mandelberger, among others.