A few weeks ago I posted an article asking studio heads to consider L. Frank Baum’s Oz books as a new fantasy-film project on the lines of Lord of the Rings.

Lo and behold, I found this in today’s Variety: Film impresario, comic-book artist and super-duper fan Todd McFarlane and Warner Bros. are indeed going to develop a new Oz movie. I don’t want to get a swelled head, but people– Like, show-business-type people– may ACTUALLY read this blog! Okay, that is somewhat unlikely, but indulge me. Quoting the Variety article:

McFarlane has a vision of Oz that is a dark, edgy and muscular PG-13, without a singing Munchkin in sight. That was clear with a toy line he launched several years ago that featured a buxom Dorothy and Toto reimagined as an oversized snarling warthog. Josh (A History of Violence) Olson has something a little tamer, and PG, in mind.

“I saw those toys, and Dorothy as some bondage queen isn’t something I want to do,” Olson told Daily Variety. “The appealing thing about the Baum books to me is how wildly imaginative they are. There are crazy characters from amazing places. I want this to be ‘Harry Potter’ dark, not ‘Seven’ dark.”

Josh Olsen is referring to a line of “Twisted Land of Oz” figures put out by McFarlane. I’d post a picture, but it’s a bit raunchy. Alright, alright– You can check it out here.

Alright, not exactly what I had in mind, but “Harry Potter dark,” That’s just about right. Fans, start your stunt-casting! Anne Hathaway IS Ozma! Jim Carrey IS the voice (and “matchmove performer”) of the Scarecrow!

And If there are folks reading this, maybe I should pull down the Tom Cruise/Fearless Leader thing. Just good clean fun, people. L. Ron Rules!

–Skot C

ADDENDA: Opening this weekend: The Nanny Diaries, featuring Scarlett Johannsen and Paul Giamatti. The cast of Ghostly Americans, my imagined indy comic book film from this article. This is of course a coincidence. Or zeitgeist. Or just plain inevitable. –sc

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 at 4:46 am and is filed under Ancilliaries, General, Motion Pictures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.