Although director Sam Raimi is known for his horror prowess, dating back to his directorial debut with the classic Evil Dead, there was a long 15-year period in which Raimi focused on other genres. Now that the acclaimed Spider-Man director is setting his sights back on making horror films with his upcoming film Send Help, one of his feel-good fantasy genre films is charting in the top 10 movies on Disney+. However, it is not a surprise that the release of Wicked has brought people’s attention back to The Wizard of Oz franchise.
Raimi’s forgotten 2013 The Wizard of Oz prequel, Oz the Great and Powerful, starring James Franco as a circus magician lost in the land of Oz, is currently number four in the top 10 movies streaming on Disney+. The director of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is getting some extra love from Disney viewers after the explosive release of Wicked, which gained a whopping $114 million at the box office during its opening weekend. While Wicked is already a prequel to Dorothy’s story, Raimi took the chance to make another prequel tale to the classic story that dove deeper into the wizard’s origin story.
Although Oz the Great and Powerful did not make as much of a wave as the recently released adaptation of the famous musical, fans are now looking back at the forgotten story and piecing it into the larger world of lions, tigers, and bears. Raimi’s respect for the original first-ever use of Technicolor film is apparent in his opening credit homage to the 1939 film, which is probably why fans are eager to revisit his prequel.
How Does the Prequel Fit Into the Franchise?
Some people, actually most people, might find the two separate prequels quite confusing as to what happens when. With Oz the Great and Powerful being made by Walt Disney Pictures and Wicked being made by Universal Pictures, there is bound to be a lot of confusion as to which story happens first or if they can both exist in the same timeline. Well, it looks like the answer might be the latter.
Related
Liam Neeson and Sam Raimi’s $49 Million Superhero Movie Was Completely Misunderstood
Out of all the ’90s superhero movies, Darkman may be the most misunderstood and underrated.
The story of Raimi’s prequel follows Franco’s magician character, Oscar Diggs, after he is hurled away from Kansas into the wonderful land of Oz, where he begins to claim that he is indeed the Wizard of Oz. However, the three witches we hear about in the original story don’t buy it, and Oscar must figure out which witch he can trust in his attempt to leave Oz. Theodora, played by Mila Kunis, is supposed to be what audiences know as the Wicked Witch of The West, while Evanora, played by Rachel Weisz, and Glinda, played by Michelle Williams, are more straightforward adaptations.
Since the film doesn’t take the story of Wicked as canon, audiences see Theodora become the Wicked Witch rather than Elphaba. See, quite confusing, isn’t it? As it turns out, audiences don’t mind the headache of watching two drastically different prequels after all.
- Release Date
-
March 8, 2013
- Cast
-
James Franco
, Mila Kunis
, Rachel Weisz
, Michelle Williams
, Zach Braff
, Bill Cobbs
, Joey King
, Tony Cox
, Stephen R. Hart
, Abigail Spencer
, Bruce Campbell
, Ted Raimi
, Tim Holmes
, Toni Wynne
, Rob Crites
, William Dick
, Gene Jones
, John Lord Booth III
, Suzanne Keilly - Runtime
-
130 Minutes