Sam Raimi’s anticipated Oz the Great and Powerful is just a month and a half away from hitting the big screen, and it’s one we’ve been looking forward to for a long time now.
All we’ve seen from the Disney blockbuster suggests it’s going to be an instant favourite from both the director and the studio, and we can’t wait for it to arrive.
Yesterday we saw two great new character posters, following the new TV spot that was released earlier in the week. And now the studio have released a new 60-second TV spot, along with another character poster from Facebook for James Franco’s Oscar / Oz.
With a slightly ill-suited voiceover, this latest spot makes Oz the Great and Powerful sound more like a family comedy-caper feature, rather than an epic blockbuster. But I have a feeling that the former isn’t going to be the flavour here at all.
“When Oscar Diggs, 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, Evanora and Glinda, 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.”
Starring alongside Franco in Oz the Great and Powerful will be Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and Rachel Weisz, with fine support coming in the form of Zach Braff (who also lends his voice in a dual role), Abigail Spencer, Tim Holmes, and Joey King.
Raimi is directing from a script by Mitchell Kapner (The Whole Nine Yards) and David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole). And Danny Elfman (Spider-Man) is once more taking scoring duties for the director.
Oz the Great and Powerful will be released in 3D and IMAX 3D on 8th March in the UK and US. Perhaps excluding the voiceover below, everything we’ve seen has been nothing but brilliant, and the odds are definitely looking good for this to be a big hit.
[yframe url=’www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6D54sGEzbA’]
