We've already concluded recently that Reese Witherspoon has decided to take on some more serious, and even grim, projects in the future, and one of those will be a film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's
bestsellerGONE GIRL. Reese will produce, and possibly star in, this story about a woman who goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, and all signs point to her husband being the killer.
OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRAILER
Your main treat for today is the long awaited trailer for fantasy adventure
OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL which comes to us straight from today's Comic Con! Disney's fantastical adventure, directed by
Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of
L. Frank Baum's beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (
James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot - fame and fortune are his for the taking - that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (
Mila Kunis), Evanora (
Rachel Weisz) and Glinda
(
Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use
through illusion, ingenuity, and even a bit of wizardry, Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.I must admit I was stunned by the visuals in the
trailer, but mostly by how mindblowing
Michelle Williams looks as Glinda! Are you excited about this one? It's out next March!
OZ TIDBITS
The budget of the film is estimated at around stunning $200 million!
Johnny Depp and
Robert Downey Jr. were the first choices for the main role.
Amy Adams, Olivia Wilde, Blake Lively (who made a
less intelligent choice of starring in SAVAGES instead of being Glinda) and
Kate Beckinsale were all in the run for the roles of the witches.
Sam Raimi wanted
Hilary Swank for the role of Evanora, but
the studio wouldn't hear about such horrid choice and demanded for the role to be given to brilliant
Rachel Weisz.
less intelligent choice of starring in SAVAGES instead of being Glinda) and Kate Beckinsale were all in the run for the roles of the witches. Sam Raimi wanted Hilary Swank for the role of Evanora, but 
the studio wouldn't hear about such horrid choice and demanded for the role to be given to brilliant Rachel Weisz. 
Visually stunning, and such a strange take on the story. I'll have to wait and see how the performances hold up though. Not sure about the choice of James Franco for the wizard. I would have liked to have seen Downey Jr. in that role I think.
ReplyDeleteyes, sister, James Franco is extremely off putting to me too! Such a horrid choice for any lead role, but then again, he's much better to me personally than Downey Jr. you know how much I can't stand that drunkard :)
DeleteNo, no, no, Downey Jr. is not a drunkard anymore. He's a very charismatic and talented actor. You shall do ten laps around the blogosphere for that remark against my Robbie. :PP
Deletepfft he still acts a drunkard and a junkie :) Can't stand the look of him!
DeleteI will still do the laps since my walrus bum needs a bit of exercise :)
Walrus bum...hahaha. That's adorable. :)
Deleteyep, me is a walrus who dreams of becoming a baby seal sized creature :)
DeleteDezzy - OZ looks like it'll be a beautiful movie.
ReplyDeleteit sure does, Shells!
DeleteOz looks like it will be much better than I would have guessed it could be, we shall see if I was right and it's crap or wrong and it's good when it comes out.
ReplyDeleteyep, we didn't really know what to expect from this one, and we still don't :) I don't really trust the director nor the lead actor... but the ladies from the cast I do trust :)
DeleteYeah the director I fully agree. The best parts were prob in the trailer like anything else these days.
Deletemost possibly!
DeleteI hope you guys are wrong on this one. This is the kind of thing I could like and if it's horrible, it'll just upset me. I need to dream little girl dreams.
Deletewe shall keep our fingers crossed, then, that it is not horrible :) OZ is American tale, so I don't have an emotional connection to it. OZ and Dr. Seuss aren't really known much outside USA.
DeleteI guess Pat Hatt will have to become world wide and blow Dr. Seuss out of the water hahaha
Deletethe Alliance has squads and allies everywhere, cat, don't think you will achieve world domination without our control :)
DeleteUmm...WOW! Really cool. Wizard of Oz was always one of my favorite books as a kid.
ReplyDeleteit's a wowzer, isn't it :)
DeleteI'm not sure about Oz. As I watched it, I was reminded of Alice in Wonderland with Depp. It just felt odd somehow?
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing Witherspoon in some serious roles. I watched her in Water for Elephants the other day and was fairly impressed with her performance.
it does come from the same producers :)
DeleteI haven't seen WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, since me refuses to watch anything with RPats :)
Well, I hope Oz lives up to the trailer; it sounds like a great take on the concept. Can't imagine why it took so long for someone to come up with the wizards story. I like that it seems a dark tale too.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do think Reece would do well in more serious roles. She has a lot of potential for growth.
Your music gem put a little spring in my step this morning. Eye candy, beautiful setting, good tempo. I'm partial to men with long hair :)
........dhole
glad you like both projects today, Donnzie :)
DeleteAnd glad you like the lovely video, isn't it pretty? It was shot in San Marino, but the song and the band is Serbian :)
That trailer looks so good. I can't wait to see Oz. I hope the movie lives up to this trailer.
ReplyDeletefingers crossed :)
DeleteI'm going to come out in favor of O (the letter in the alphabet after the Y doesn't work on my computer, How very unfortunate for this post!!
ReplyDeleteFor me this is simply good medicine. A needed break from reality into the world of the fantastical. I don't know who should have been cast in the lead, but I'm not sure it should have been Depp or Downey Jr. either.
And Reese looks lovely in that gown darling.
LOL, still didn't call someone to check out your computer, dear? :)
DeleteGlad you like Reese in it, Annzie, it is one of my fave pics of her, very elegant and refined and lovely.
James Franco wouldn't have been my choice either (nor Downey tho I do like him) but the trailer is quite intriguing and I hope it will be as good as it looks :)
ReplyDeleteyep, I don't think anyone supports the choice of Franco, he doesn't really have many fans...
Deleteit isn't that he isn't a good actor, imo, I've seen him in a number of movies and always found his performance quite good if not excellent. He just doesn't have the sex appeal and/or charisma of someone like...say Jude Law or George Clooney (neither of who would be my choice for the wizard - in fact, I'm not sure who I'd choose!)
Deleteoooh, Jude Law would've been perfect in this, he or Ewan McGregor :)
DeleteOMG so much hype for OZ, looks like its going to be awesome
ReplyDeleteit's the biggest hype from Comic Con this weekend :)
DeleteI am loving prequels lately. I recently watched Rise of the Planets of the Apes so James Franco seems like a perfect choice. It sucks that we have to wait a whole year.
ReplyDeleteyep, almost a whole year to wait.
DeleteReese looks stunning in the picture ~
ReplyDeleteAnd good for her in getting the project ~
The OZ trailer looks interesting ~
Happy weekend Dez ~
I love that pic of her too :)
DeleteHappy weekend to you as well, Heaven!
Nice trailer but not sure about Franco!
ReplyDeleteyep, we do not approve of Franco!
Deletei am interested... there is enough plus moments in the trailer.
ReplyDeleteglad the zombies approve :)
DeleteVery happy to hear that Reese is stepping away from the safe romcom genre. It makes me not even want to watch her movies. Oz looks incredible. I can not wait to see it. And thank goodness the studio stepped in and vetoed the whole Hillary Swank think...can't really stand her much. Just a little bit of trivia....I grew up in the same town as the Raimi family. Crazy!!
ReplyDeleteah, I actually love romcoms, they are the valuable vaults of love, positivity and hope in today's morbidly dark world.
DeleteAgreed on Hilary, can you believe she has Oscars????
Wow, it is amazing. I'm glad it's not just another remake of Wizard of Oz.
ReplyDeleteglad you like it, Clarissa!
DeleteOz looks great, judging from that trailer! Love the flying monkeys!
ReplyDeletehe he those are funny!
DeleteOz is going to be absolutely spectacular! I cannot wait to see this and Michelle looks amazingly gorgeous. :)
ReplyDeleteI do like Michelle in it too!
Delete