Sam Raimi has finally locked the last major player in the cast for his upcoming Oz: The Great And Powerful with the casting of Michelle Williams as the good witch Glinda.
Williams’ Glinda will be teaming up James Franco as a carnival huckster who has arrived in Oz to battle against her two evil sisters Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Theadora (Mila Kunis) for control of the magical kingdom over the rainbow. The film is a prequel to Frank L Baum’s classic children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, which was adapted in to the classic musical film in 1939 starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan as the Wizard, Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West and Billie Burke as Glinda.
Raimi has had a rough time solidifying his cast for the film. Originally, Robert Downey Jr was attached to the part of the carnival pitchman who sets himself up as a wizard. He left the project in January 2011 and Johnny Depp was briefly involved before Franco signed on. He also went head-to-head with the studio over the casting of Evanora, before the two finally compromised on Weisz.
But despite all the problems there may have been, the end result is an exciting and solid cast. All three actresses are solid and dependable performers and Franco, however flakey he may come off in interview situations, has always turned in good work as well. I like that the film has more female leads than male ones. It’s a refreshing change from usual blockbuster fare.
And hopefully, William’s Glinda won’t suffer from the same bad eyesight that Burke’s did when she famously said to Dorothy that “Only bad witches were ugly” right after asking her “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”
With the main casting set, Oz: The Great And Powerful is well on its way towards meeting its July production start date.
Via Variety.
