At the weekend we reported that Sam Raimi had been offered the job of directing Oz, The Great And Powerful for Disney, but at that point there was no word on whether he would accept, or indeed if he was even interested.
Now Deadline reports that not only is Raimi interested, but that talks for him to direct have now turned into a deal, and he’s signed on fully to the film. Oz, The Great And Powerful is a prequel to the famed tale of Dorothy Gale, and follows the story of the wizard, from being a normal human on Earth working for a travelling circus, to becoming the man behind the curtain in Oz, who everyone believes is a great and powerful wizard.
While for several months it’s been mooted as a Robert Downey Jr. film, Deadline quote one of their sources as saying, “Robert Downey Jr. isn’t set yet. They are going to develop for him, if things go right. The script will be rewritten. The movie will happen, though.” So while most agree Downey Jr. would be perfect for the role, it seems he’s not as committed as it’s previously appeared.
While Raimi is still developing a World of Warcraft film, this is the first movie he’s taken on since stepping down from directing Spider-man 4 a couple of months ago, and with Disney pushing the movie Oz, The Great And Powerful hard, it should be the next thing he makes.
Incidentally, in other Oz, news, with an animated sequel, the musical Wicked and two Oz projects at Warner also in development, it looks like we’ve got another to add to the list of potential movies based on L Frank Baum’s tale. HeyUGuys has discovered a video posted on Youtube, which seemd to suggest Mark and Michael Polish (Twin Falls Idaho, The Astronaut Farmer) are planning a remake of the original story, and have filmed a short scene to show off there vision. There’s no other news on the film, or indeed itf the video really was made by the Polish brothers, but it’s still another Oz project to add to the list. Take a look at the possible Oz promo below.