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Walt Disney Pictures
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During the Disney panel at Comic-Con 2012, the studio unveiled the trailer for Sam Raimi’s brand new film Oz The Great and Powerful. It stars James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, and Michelle Williams, and is a prequel to the events of the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The studio has released that trailer for all to see, so check it out below!

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I love the way the trailer opens in black and white with the old Hollywood style aspect ratio and then transitions to those brilliant colors and expands to widescreen once we arrive in Oz. Strangely enough, this project feels much more like a Tim Burton movie than a Sam Raimi movie, with the set designs, Danny Elfman’s score, and highly stylized look to it. I’m hoping Raimi can give us a worthy prequel to one of the most classic films of all time, and it looks like he’s certainly got an interesting story to tell.
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Oz The Great and Powerful crashes its balloon into theaters on March 8th, 2013.
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Synopsis: Disney’s fantastical adventure “Oz The Great and Powerful,” 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.
“Oz The Great and Powerful” is produced by Joe Roth and written by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire (credit not final). Grant Curtis, Philip Steuer and Palak Patel are serving as executive producers. “Oz The Great and Powerful” opens in U.S. theaters on March 8, 2013.