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OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL: Studio Rivalry Begins, No Dorothy in Sequel

Rachel Weisz Oz The Great and Powerful'

Oz: the Great and Powerful‘s successful premiere last weekend was bound to spur conjecture over The Walt Disney Company’s latest movie and Warner Bros.’ original film. Because of the success, a sequel has already been green-lite for Oz: the Great and Powerful that will have most of the principal cast return (which included: James Franco, Mila KunisMichelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, and Abigail Spencer, Joey King, Zach Braff, Martin Klebba, Ted Raimi, Bill Cobbs, Tony Cox, Tim Holmes, Toni Wynne, Dennis Kleinsmith, and Ron Causey) though director Sam Raimi has not committed yet.

With a sequel officially on the way, its striking to realize that Warner Bros. had three Wizard of Oz projects peculating before Oz: The Great and Powerful was even formulated. The projects included:

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a sequel titled “Oz: The Return to Emerald City,” about Dorothy’s granddaughter returning to Oz to fight new evil and written by “A History of Violence” scribe Josh Olson; “Surrender Dorothy,” a modern-day spin on the tale that was set up with Drew Barrymore’s production company; and “The Wizard of Oz,” Del Toro’s nonmusical version penned by “Shrek Forever After” writer Darren Lemke and set to be produced by the company behind the “Twilight” films.

Like DC Comics with the release and success of The Avengers, now Warner Bros. sees how much money one of their Wizard of Oz project could have made if they had gotten one off the ground.

In the immediate future, “Warner Bros. has a new Wizard of Oz Blu-ray on the way, a TV show called Red Brick Road and tons of merchandise hoping to capitalize on one of their best known films.”

I know Warner is happy about that Blu-ray’s upcoming release (though they just had a release in 2009 and 2010) and I bet they will promote the hell out of it now, even more so with the success of Oz: the Great and Powerful. People will be hunger for the original to see what happens to Oz after the conclusion of Oz: the Great and Powerful.

That is also the reason for the Oz: the Great and Powerful sequel but do not expect to see Dorothy in the film. Oz: the Great and Powerful was set more than twenty years before Dorothy Gale was born.

[P]roducer Joe Roth says the Great and Powerful sequel “would absolutely not” involve Dorothy.

Roth said as much to the LA Times, and screenwriter Mitchell Kapner added “It’s 20 years before Dorothy arrives,” he said. “A lot can happen in that time.”

There’s a hint in Oz the Great and Powerful that one character seen in Kansas is related to Dorothy, with the suggestion being that she’ll eventually be the girl’s mother. From there it’s easy to guess that Disney was paving the way to introduce its own version of Dorothy.

I guessing Dorothy or a hint of her shows up in third film for the ka-boom factor it will cause with fans of The Wizard of Oz and of Oz: the Great and Powerful.

What did you think of Oz: the Great and Powerful , a sequel, and the potential of Dorothy appearing?

Leave your thoughts on it below in the comments section. For more Oz: the Great and the Powerful photos, videos, and information, visit our Oz: the Great and the Powerful Page, subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on Twitter or “like” us on Facebook.

Source: Wikipedia, Los Angeles Times, Slashfilm (1, 2)

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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