Now that he is no longer tied to the Spider-Man films, director Sam Raimi has time to focus on other projects. Deadline Hollywood reported yesterday evening (June 14) that he signed an agreement with Walt Disney Pictures to direct the film Oz, the Great and Powerful. It’s a prelude to the famous film Wizard of Oz that opened in theatres in 1939.
The film will star Robert Downey Jr. and be produced by Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland).
It tells the story of a stable boy who works in a circus but is transported to the mysterious land of Oz by a tornado. There, he will pretend to be somebody he is not.
With this new project, Disney hopes to repeat the success of Alice in Wonderland by director Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. That film has earned over $1 billion worldwide so far this year.
This new film about the world of Oz will not be released before 2013. Raimi also has another project scheduled to be released in 2013, the film Warcraft inspired by the popular game of the same name.