Speaking with
Total Film,
Oz: The Great & Powerful director Sam Raimi discusses his anticipated prequel to the iconic
Wizard Of Oz. Due to the popularity of the first film, many fans were hesitant about a new film inspired by the mythology of L. Frank Baum's classic books. However, Raimi confirms that he didn't try to remake
Wizard Of Oz, and that he didn't have to reinvent any of the film's history in the prequel.
"I think The Wizard Of Oz is such a great film and I would never attempt to [remake that]," he said.
"You could call [Oz] a prequel, that would be accurate - but I didn’t have to re-invent any of that fantastic history."
Raimi also talks about screenwriter Mitchell Kapner's work on the film, and how much of Baum's books inspired it as opposed to his own material. The
Spider-Man director additionally comments on the collaboration on the script.
"Mitchell [Kapner, screenwriter] took about 40% of the events that were sprinkled here and there about Oz from Baum’s books and really created the other 60% himself out of his imagination, because there just wasn’t enough there. I gave him notes, I brought aboard a second writer to help fill out some other areas of the story, my brother did a little work on the script, and all the actors contributed. It really was a very big collaboration."
Oz: The Great And Powerful stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams. The film is set to hit theaters March 8th.
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