Latest Trailer For Oz The Great and Powerful Introduces a New (and Old) Villain
Posted 11.15.12 by Ryan
"I might not actually be a wizard."
Director Sam Raimi has never been one to shy from including cyclone-shaped dimensional portals in his movies. 1987's Evil Dead 2 both starts and ends with such a device, and Raimi's latest movie, Oz: The Great and Powerful, utilizes one as well. However, while Evil Dead's Ash (Bruce Campbell) ends up in the past, Oz The Great and Powerful's Oscar Diggs (James Franco) heads to the same magical place depicted in 1939's The Wizard of Oz, likely the movie that inspired Evil Dead 2's whirlwind portal in the first place.
Based more on L. Frank Baum's Land of OZ books and less a prequel to The Wizard of Oz movie, mostly because Disney purchased the movie rights to Baum's 13 Oz books after The Wizard of Oz was released. As Raimi explained during the Disney panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, that means Oz the Great and Powerful won't have ruby slippers, but, as revealed in the movie's teaser trailer, the movie would begin in black-and-white and revert to color much like The Wizard of Oz did. What was not revealed was what Franco would be up to in the movie, outside of meeting several witches, played by Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams. The movie's latest trailer offers more details on what Franco's Oscar will be up against in the movie, including the entrance of a familiar villain.
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Here's the official synopsis for Oz The Great and Powerful.
Disney’s fantastical adventure Oz The Great and Powerful, directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum’s beloved wizard character. When Oscar Diggs (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 (Kunis), Evanora (Weisz) and Glinda (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 but into a better man as well.
Oz The Great and Powerful was written by Mitchell Kapner (The Whole Nine Yards) and David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole). The cast includes Zach Braff as Franco's circus assistant and the voice of a CGI winged monkey named Finley, and Joey King as the voice of China Girl, who has a bigger presence in the latest trailer. As usual for a Raimi movie, keep your eyes peeled for a Bruce Campbell cameo.
Next Showing: Oz The Great and Powerful opens March 8, 2013