There is a project entitled, "OZ the Great and Powerful" which is written by Mitchell Kapner who originally titled it "Brick" that may have Sam Mendez as the director and Robert Downey Jr. as the Wizard. The project is based off several pieces of L. Frank Baum's other books on OZ and other original ideas he had. It's about how the Wizard is part of a traveling circus and goes through some sort of journey that mysteriously lands him in OZ. There are quite a few "Oz" projects circling right now. One, is the movie version of the broadway musical "Wicked" and another one "Oz: The Return to Emerald City" where Dorothy's granddaughter goes back to Oz to fight evil.
If you want my opinion, I think this is all ridiculous. Studios only want to produce movies about L. Frank Baum's books because "Alice in Wonderland" raked in a lot of dough. I'm a hardcore Wizard of Oz fan, like I'm so obsessed with the film it's sick, and I hate the idea that all of a sudden everyone wants a piece of these stories. "The Wizard of Oz" was done perfectly 71 years ago and there is no reason to touch any part of it. People need to come up with more ideas and stories to work with so they can stop remaking every single thing out there. It is quite sad. What do you think about all the Wizard of Oz craziness?
I think it depends on how they decide to handle it. If it is definitely a straight-up remake of Wizard of Oz, then why bother? They got it right the first time, and it is not a film that has aged poorly or been forgotten, so what would be the point of making a new version that would only be compared to the original, and probably not favorably. There are, however, a lot of other stories in the series, so I definitely think it would be possible to revisit the Oz universe in a way that is interesting and new, and that does not cash in on or cheapen the original.
ReplyDeleteI know the one Sam Mendez is trying to create is a prequel to the Wizard of Oz, with how the Wizard came to Emerald City, but I dont know anyone that is really that intrigued with the Wizard that they want to know where he came from. I just hope whatever they do with these Oz movies they don't make it anything remotely close to the original. They need new material that's for sure.
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