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There's a new Wizard of Oz adaptation in the works, and Nicole Kassell is set to helm the project. Kassell is best known for her work on HBO's critically acclaimed series Watchmen – she directed three out of its nine episodes, including the pilot.
She's also directed episodes of other hit TV shows including Better Call Saul, The Leftovers, and Westworld. Deadline reports that the studio, New Line, hired Kassell because of the meticulous world-building she had demonstrated with her work on Watchmen and her ability to adapt challenging source material.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and published in 1900, but the story really reached worldwide acclaim with the 1939 musical adaptation. Judy Garland stars as red-slippered Dorothy, whose house is carried away in a twister and transported from Kansas to Oz. Countless other projects have taken inspiration from Baum's novel, including the award-winning musical Wicked, which is getting the big-screen treatment from Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu.
“While the 1939 musical is part of my DNA, I am exhilarated and humbled by the responsibility of re-imagining such a legendary tale," Kassell said in a statement. "The opportunity to examine the original themes – the quest for courage, love, wisdom and home – feels more timely and urgent than ever. These are profoundly iconic shoes to fill, and I am eager to dance alongside these heroes of my childhood as we pave a newly minted yellow brick road.”
