Sam Raimi returned to his over-the-top horror roots with Drag Me to Hell, following the collapse of Spider-Man 4, and Sony’s resultant decision to reboot the franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man. He’s back on big-budget territory with Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful: a prequel about how a young Wizard of Oz (James Franco) first found his way to that magical land somewhere over the rainbow.
The film has primarily been sold on the merits of its cast so far, with Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, and Mila Kunis playing a trifecta of Oz witches (Evanora, Glinda, and Theodora) whose lives are complicated by the arrival of the young “Wizard.” Today, though, we have the first official poster, as a teaser for Raimi’s vision of such iconic fantasy locales as the Yellow Brick Road and Emerald City.
Oz the Great and Powerful boasts the handiwork of art director Todd Cherniawsky (Sucker Punch) and two-time Oscar-winning production designer Robert Stromberg (Avatar); the two previously collaborated on Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland for the Mouse House. Stromberg was thereafter hired on to direct Disney’s Sleeping Beauty spinoff Maleficent, thanks to his combined efforts on both Alice and Oz.
Official synopsis for Oz: The Great and Powerful:
When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.
