According to Vulture, Sam Raimi has been offered the director’s chair for Disney’s Oz, the Great and Powerful, a 3D prequel to the 1939 MGM classic The Wizard of Oz. Robert Downey, Jr. is attached to star in the title role.
Raimi was hired last year by Legendary Pictures to develop a film based on the wildly popular World of Warcraft video game but there is still some question as to when this film is going ahead. And with Sony dropping the fourth chapter to his Spider-Man franchise, Raimi’s schedule is open for another film.
The list of directors considered for Oz has been getting longer and more desperate as Disney tries to push this big money project forward. Adam Shankman, Sam Mendes, Timur Bekmambetov and Guillermo Del Toro have all declined for various reasons. The question now is whether Raimi will take on Oz and begin filming “sometime this year,” at Disney’s insistence. Despite the high-profile, low-expectation vibe that this project is already emitting Raimi could take the reins from Disney and use his skills to produce a high quality film worth seeing.
The project is written by Mitchell Kapner (The Whole Nine Yards, Romeo Must Die), and Joe Roth.
Would you want to see Sam Raimi direct Oz, The Great And Powerful?