Robert Downey Jr to star in the new Oz flick

Sam Raimi

Robert Downey Jr has signed on to lend his kooky allure to new fantasy Oz, The Great And Powerful .

Not only that, but a Spidey-free Sam Raimi has also been officially confirmed as the project’s director (after Monday’s rumour reportage ).

A prequel to the classic Wizard Of Oz , this fantastically belated fantastical follow-up will cast Downey Jr as a wayward circus wrangler who goes on to become the mystical wizard of lore.

Clearly Disney are aiming for a similar franchise re-work as Tim Burton’s recent Alice In Wonderland , with Oz imagined anew by a big name director. Naturally, it will be in 3D.

Presumably Raimi’s attachment to Oz means his intended movie adap of video game World Of Warcraft has been put on ice (everybody breathe a sigh of relief). But considering Downey Jr’s jam-packed schedule, it’ll be interesting to see how he crams Oz into the mixt.

Not only is he currently signed on to star in Sherlock Holmes 2 , he’s also attached to Gravity and The Avengers . Still, even if the Oz shoot is a few months off, it gives Raimi plenty of time to start auditioning munchkins…

Excited to see Downey Jr's version of the wizard?

Source: [ Deadline ]

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.