Mila Kunis and James Franco are heading to Oz

Sam Raimi has locked in James Franco and Mila Kunis to star in his Wizard of Oz prequel.

It was rumoured a while back that Franco might be playing the young charlatan, and it seems that Kunis' presence was enough to convince him to sign on.

Kunis' star has been rising dramatically over the past couple of years, and she's not wasting time capitalising on her post- Black Swan heat.

She'll be playing witch Theodorah, who goes on to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, and we can imagining that she'll nail the beguiling blend of darkness and charisma that the role will require.

The actress apparently chose Oz over the Hughes brothers' live-action Akira remake. We imagine this means Franco won't be appearing in that movie either, as was recently rumoured.

Franco had a lot of potential movies to choose from, including some directorial projects, so it bodes well that he opted for Oz, the Great and Powerful , which starts shooting in May.

The actors previously worked together in Date Night , playing the criminal couple who Steve Carell and Tina Fey were confused with.

James Franco will host the Oscars on 27 February, and he's also nominated in the Best Actor category for his performance in 127 Hours .

PRODUCTS

Matt Maytum is the former Editor of Total Film magazine. Over the past decade, Matt has worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.