Rachel Weisz is the latest addition to the cast of Sam Raimi's "Oz: The Great and Powerful", a prequel to "The Wizard of Oz", revealing the origin of the Wizard himself.
In the movie, James Franco plays Oz, a snake-oil salesman posing as a magician who accidentally arrives at the land of Oz in a hot-air balloon. There, he comes across two sister witches, Evanora and Theadora, played by Weisz and Mila Kunis, who mistake him for a wizard with supernatural powers. Blake Lively is in talks to play Oz's love interest, Glinda, the good witch of the East.
The movie is directed by Sam Raimi and produced by Disney. The script was written by Mitchell Kapner ("Romeo Must Die") and revised by David Lindsay-Abaire ("Robots"). Robert Downey Jr. ("Iron Man") was originally set to star, but was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.
Shooting starts in the second semester of 2011 for a release in 2013. It will be filmed in 3D.