Robert Downey Jr., of Iron Man fame, and American Beauty lensman Sam Mendes are being tipped to team up in a box office prequel to MGM’s 1939 cinema classic, The Wizard Oz.
Hollywood producers are preparing to return to the Emerald City on the big screen in a new picture about the wonderful wizard, titled Oz The Great and Powerful. And if film bosses have their way, Downey Jr. will star as the all-knowing wizard, while Sam will step behind the camera to take over directing duties, The Los Angeles Times reports.
Oz will be a prequel to the film that made a star of a then 16-year-old legend-in-the-making Judy Garland, and will tell the story of a young circus magician who ends up the leader of a mystical land after crash-landing there in a hot air balloon.
From the gentlemen at The Times’ 24 Frames Blog: “According to word in the development community, Robert Downey Jr. is talking to producers about starring as the wizard (hard not to lick your lips at that one). Down Meanwhile, two directors are said to be considered top candidates to get behind the camera: American Beauty director Sam Mendes (who may have some time on his hands now that Bond 23 is in trouble) and Hairspray and Bedtime Stories director Adam Shankman…The wizard, who in the Baum books was a charlatan in Kansas before arriving in Oz, is a more dark and complex character in (this) version.”
Return To Oz, another film based on L. Frank Baum timeless fantasy novels, was released by Disney — to almost universal critical contempt — in 1985.