Despite some less than exciting reviews for Sam Raimi’s latest effort ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’, the film is proving to be quite popular already generating over $150 million in revenue at the box office within just a few days of release.
Disney has taken notice of the warm reception given by audience and discussions of a sequel are already underway. Mila Kunis has previously stated that most of the cast were signed on for sequels, which is quite common these days for potential franchises. But where would a sequel go?
The obvious direction would be to revisit Dorothy in what could be an effective remake of the classic film ‘The Wizard of Oz’, but that seems unlikely given recent comments from ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ producer Joe Roth who stated that a sequel would not involve Dorothy.
L. Frank Baum wrote fourteen books about Oz published from 1900 to 1920, making for a rich source of story material that reaches far beyond what’s been put up on screen before. No doubt Disney will be looking at this while deciding what path to take for future films, however it seems they’ll be doing so without Sam Raimi directing.
Raimi has made the following comments regarding his likely future in Oz;
I haven’t planned on directing the sequel. I did leave some loose ends for another director if they want to make the picture… I was attracted to the ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ story but I don’t think the second one would have the thing I would need to get me interested.
These things can change of course, and Disney might set out to present an offer too hard to refuse, but for now at least, audiences look set to revisit Oz in the next few years.
