Rachel Weisz is Oz The Great And Powerfuls evil witch

Rachel Weisz is currently in talks to play evil witch Evanora in Sam Raimi’s Oz, The Great And Powerful.

The prequel to 1939’s much-loved The Wizard Of Oz already has James Franco signed as a travelling snake oil salesman who is swept into Oz. There, he becomes the famous Wizard.

Meanwhile, Mila Kunis will play Theodora, Evanora’s sister. She's a good witch who Evanora turns evil when Theodora is rejected by the Wizard. Together they attempt to take over Oz.

The third witch-y sister, Glinda, is still yet to be cast, though a (rather preposterous) shortlist apparently includes Olivia Wilde, Amy Adams, Kate Beckinsale, Keira Knightley and Rebecca Hall.

Weisz is an interesting choice for Evanora, having split her time between sumptuous films with gorgeous visuals ( The Fountain , Constantine ) and grittier, dramatic fare ( The Constant Gardener ).

Oz should give her a chance to ham it up a bit - something she's clearly craving, her post- The Mummy career having remained mostly ham-free.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.