Shortly after he was announced this summer as the director for Disney's "Oz The Great And Powerful," Sam Raimi quickly poured cold water on reports saying he was still taking a wait-and-see approach as he was also working on the long-in-development adaptation of the massive video game, "World Of Warcraft." Well, Raimi has finally committed to the project in what will certainly big a major franchise project for Disney. But perhaps most intriguingly, the Pulitzer prize winning writer of "Rabbit Hole," David Lindsay-Abaire has been tapped to rewrite the project. And frankly, that's the best news we've heard about this film so far.
We were definitely not so fond of the last draft of the film we read, dated April 2010, by Mitchell Kapner (of "Romeo Must Die," no less). The story begins at the 'Baum & Barley Bros.' Circus in Kansas in the early 1900s. Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmanuel Ambroise Diggs, better known as Oz, is a showman and magician at the circus, who's soon caught canoodling with the wife of a customer. When her husband catches them at it, a furious chase follows, ending with Oz fleeing in a hot air balloon. He gets caught in a terrible storm, collapses and wakes up in the magical land of Oz. He's almost immediately greeted by Winkie Men (resembling the Winkie Guards from the original), Winged Monkeys and sweet witch Theodora, who tells him that he's destined to defeat the Wicked Witch, etc. etc.
Lindsay-Abaire may initially seem like an odd choice, but he penned both "Robots" and "Inkheart" so family fare is some very comfortable territory for the writer. But most intriguingly Lindsay-Abaire previously worked with Raimi in the late stages of "Spider-man 4," trying to get the script right prior to that project completely falling apart. As for the long attached Robert Downey Jr., while he's still not yet officially on board, its said he's close to signing on.
Production is slated to begin at some point in 2011 but we would guess that with Downey Jr.'s commitments to both "The Avengers" and Alfonso Cuaron's hopefully-still-happening "Gravity," it will go in front of cameras in the second-half of the year.
The Pixar short "Presto," which first unspooled in front of "Wall-E," is in this writer's opinion, one of the finer shorts ever produced by the studio. The Oscar and Annie nominated short was a hilarious tale about a magician and his rabbit that had a distinctly old school, Looney Tunes sense of humor.
Well, the director Doug Sweetland has moved over -- after a sixteen year stint at Pixar -- to Sony Pictures Animation where he will make his feature animated debut, "The Familiars." Based on the book by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, the film will follow "three young wizard apprentices who, after being whisked away by an evil queen, must rely on their animal companions, or familiars -- an alley cat, a blue jay and a tree frog -- to escape." Sounds like a very fun concept, and we're eager to see how Sweetland tackles the material. Epstein and Jacobson are writing the screenplay.
Sam Raimi and Josh Donen are executive producing the project, but no start date has yet been announced (probably waiting for the screenplay to be finished). It's one of a number of projects Raimi is shepherding, including three vehicles for the small screen and the alien invasion flick, "EDF." [THR]
Looks like speculation has ended, with "Easy A" star Emma Stone looking to step into the massive shoes of Kirsten Dunst asSpider-Man's redhead love interest Mary Jane Watson for Sony's untitled "Spider-Man" relaunch. Deadline Hollywood has announced that Stone should be expecting an offer very soon to star alongside Andrew Garfield in Marc Webb's "re-imagining" of the Spidey mythos. Stone has made some good money for Sony with both "Zombieland" and "Easy A," so it's no surprise they would pick someone so prominent on their Rolodex.
We like Stone, but it's hard to say anything positive or negative about what is such a secretive project. Though there is fresh talent all around, how much pressure will Sony feel to adhere to the formula that led the "Spider-Man" franchise to become a billion dollar extravaganza? In other words, will Stone being doing the damsel-in-distress BS that Dunst visibly grew bored from, or will she have a chance to utilize her comedic talent and make Mary Jane a fully-functioning character that might convince girls these movies are worth watching on their own?
Sony remains on the hunt for a Gwen Stacy character as well, revisiting the love triangle/square that helped the maligned "Spider-Man 3" to almost $900 million in worldwide theatrical gross. Adding Stone, who's appeal isn't exactly va-va-voom but more bubbly and warm suggests they might go in another direction for the Stacy character, but it's hard to say what's going on in Sony offices regarding this massive gamble, even with names like Mia Wasikowska and Dianna Agron being tossed around. But we're still bitter about not getting Oded Fehr as Kraven in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man IV: Keep On Webbin'" so maybe we're not the ones best suited to speculation.
Shortly after he was announced this summer as the director for Disney's "Oz The Great And Powerful," Sam Raimi quickly poured cold water on reports saying he was still taking a wait-and-see approach as he was also working on the long-in-development adaptation of the massive video game, "World Of Warcraft." Well, Raimi has finally committed to the project in what will certainly big a major franchise project for Disney. But perhaps most intriguingly, the Pulitzer prize winning writer of "Rabbit Hole," David Lindsay-Abaire has been tapped to rewrite the project. And frankly, that's the best news we've heard about this film so far.
