Warner Bros. Wants to Move forward with THE WIZARD OF OZ Remake
Yeah, this is happening. Don't act so surprised, this is Hollywood we're talking about. Talk of a new Wizard of Oz film has been going on for a few years now. There are actually three films currently in development including a CGI animated version. Warner Bros. currently has two of these Wizard of Oz projects being set up at their studio, but only one will win and get made.
The first Oz film project takes the story on a little bit of the darker side. It's written by Josh Olson, the writer of A History of Violence, and it focuses on Dorothy's granddaughter who returns to Oz to fight evil. Producer Basil Iwanyk (Clash of the Titans) is developing this one. This is also the Wizard of Oz project that Spawn creator Todd MacFarlane is kind of a producer on. This is a film we've been hearing a lot about.
The second film project is simply called Oz, and is set up at Warner's New Line. This version is being produced by Twilight producer Temple Hill, and has a script written by Darren Lemke, who wrote Shrek Forever After.
If either of these have to get made then I gotta go with the dark version that isn't being developed by someone involved with Twilight and Shrek. The first project also has a very good writer attached. These projects have gained enough steam that the studio's are reaching out to some of Hollywoods top directors to take them to the next stage of development. So its at the point where one of these is going to get made for sure.
Warner's saw the success of Disney's Alice in Wonderland and they want to jump on board the band wagon. They want a piece of the money action that Alice saw. One of the main reasons Alice did so well though was because it had Tim Burton directing and Johnny Depp starring. Had it been made by anyone else I don't think it would have been as successful. So maybe Warner Bros. will bring on Burton to direct and Depp can play the Scarecrow. Oh yeah! Of course it's going to be filmed in 3D. Why even ask?
Apparently Warners is also thinking about building it up into a franchise with all the books written by L. Frank Baum featuring many of the same characters. All the books are public domain. They also haven't decided if it will be a musical or not.
Fact of the matter is, we are going to see a new Wizard of Oz film probably within the next couple of years. It seems like they are wanting to get one of these Oz projects on the fast track to production.
What are your thoughts on Warner Bros. working toward getting The Wizard of Oz into production?