Oscar Host James Franco Closes Oz: The Great And Powerful Deal

 

Earlier this month we reported that James Franco was in early talks to join the cast of Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful. This would bring the coming weekend’s Oscars co-host back to work with his Spider-Man director, which can only be a good thing.

Franco is now set for the lead role, Oz the great and powerful himself, according to Deadline. Production is now set to begin in July.

I want you to think back now and recall the Wizard from The Wizard of Oz. Now imagine Franco spouting those lines. It’s sort of a perfect fit, right? Both the character and the man are born tricksters, fast-talking and charismatic. Seeing Franco play a younger version of that — this story is a prequel to L. Frank Baum’s original novel — ought to be a hoot. And as we learned earlier this week, it looks like he’ll be joined by Black Swan star Mila Kunis. So Raimi, Franco and Kunis. This is going to be fun.