Walt Disney Pictures' 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.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/22/oz-the-great-and-powerful-synopsis-details_n_932821.html

Instead of making a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, there are 14 other books in that series they could adapt, and about 15 more in the secondary series as well.

Thats hollywood for you SN. They are big on re-makes but not on original material.

Except this is a prequel, and a prequel about a man who is not that interesting unless they follow the plots from the later books in the series. Why would we want to see a movie about a guy who's nothing more than a fraud? In place of Jack Pumpkinhead and Scraps the Patchwork Girl, Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter, Tik-Tok the Clockwork man, and Billina the talking hen? How about the Gnome king who fears all chickens? Or the old witch Mombi who stole Ozma as a baby and turned her into a boy? Something like that would get my money, but I have an idea this one will not.

Supernova wrote:

Except this is a prequel, and a prequel about a man who is not that interesting unless they follow the plots from the later books in the series. Why would we want to see a movie about a guy who's nothing more than a fraud? In place of Jack Pumpkinhead and Scraps the Patchwork Girl, Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter, Tik-Tok the Clockwork man, and Billina the talking hen? How about the Gnome king who fears all chickens? Or the old witch Mombi who stole Ozma as a baby and turned her into a boy? Something like that would get my money, but I have an idea this one will not.

I agree that would be much more interesting than this prequel.