How Many Times Can We Go To Oz?
By vjenkins86
@vjenkins86 (1478)
United States
June 25, 2010 10:16pm CST
I was just reading an article about how many movies Hollywood is planning on making based on The Wizard of Oz. So far there are 7 different adaptations in progress.
1) One of the most talked about one is the prequel based on the wizard coming to Oz. Robert Downey Jr. has been mentioned to be in the running of starring in this movie.
2) Another is an animated film based strictly on the book, more closely than Judy Garland's movie did.
3) Another is Wicked, based on the famous play about the witches' friendship
4) Dark Oz is based on the same-titled comic which, like the title alludes, is dark and slightly disturbing.
5) Then there is a 3D animated version with the voices of Martin Short, Dan Akroyd and Kelsey Grammer attached to the project.
6)One sequel focuses on Dorothy's granddaughter coming to Oz and befriending her grandmother's old friends.
7) The other sequel focuses on Dorothy's great great granddaughter battling the wicked witch using the red slippers.
Too many adaptations or what? Have you heard of any of these projects? Would you go to see any of them?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@thedailyclick (3017)
•
26 Jun 10
Well I'd heard of at least 4 of them and likewise question why so many studios are looking into creating movies around the same premise. To me there will be one which will wow audiences and then most of the others will end up bombing or being shelved for a few years.
Funnily Wizard of Oz is not the only movie to be looking at numerous sequels and adaptations. I believe 20,000 leagues under the sea, the three musketeers and a few others have all got numerous films in production from different studios.
It all boils down to the fact that the original story ends up becoming public domain and so it is less costly to then make movies based on these public domain stories than for studios to buy copyrights etc etc.
1 person likes this
@vjenkins86 (1478)
• United States
27 Jun 10
I didn't hear about the other movies. I liked 20,000 leagues under the sea and have even read the book so I might be interested in that. I have always loved the three musketeers so they might also get me watching that as well. lol.
Thanks for responding.
@Bionicman (3958)
• Czech Republic
26 Jun 10
Interesting, haven't heard of single one of them.
But believe it or not I haven't watched the original yet. I even downloaded it and then my hard drive crashed haha. I have to download it again.
1 person likes this
@vjenkins86 (1478)
• United States
27 Jun 10
wow! it almost sounds like you are destined to never watch it. lol. well good luck with your hard drive. Maybe one day you'll be able to see the original.
thanks for responding.
@allyoftherain (7208)
• United States
26 Jun 10
The copyrights on all of the original OZ books have long since expired, meaning they are all in the public domain and fair game to anyone. You can download the books off the internet for free, and it would be legal. Any studio or author can make an adaptation or derivative work based on any of the OZ books and never worry about paying royalties to an author, an author's family, or a publishing company. No lawsuits. No legalities... and they were popular in their time. That's why there are so many adaptations in the works and already on shelves. You'll see the same thing with old fairy tails like Cinderella, and it's getting started on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books.
I liked the original book, "The Wizard of Oz" and I somewhat liked the first film. (It wasn't really all that loyal to the book.) I'd be interested in seeing a film adaptation that was actually loyal, and I already love the musical Wicked. (The Wicked musical is based on a derivative book, meaning that another author came along and wrote something partially based on another author's work. Wicked takes some serious liberties with the source material. It's basically fan-fiction that developed a life of it's own. Once again, there's no copyright law to break anymore. OZ is fair game to anyone who wants to mess with it.)
There are some stories that I never get tired of. Not sure OZ is one of them, but since I'm a big fan of fantasy then I'd like to see what others are doing with the OZ story.
@allyoftherain (7208)
• United States
27 Jun 10
I kinda like the movie in its own right... I grew up on the movie and I didn't actually read the book until much later. But after I read the book, I preferred it to the movie. I'm not horribly picky when watching book to film adaptations, I think some changes are necessary to get it to fit to the movie format easier. But then I also prefer that they be close to the book, and true to the plot and characters of the book. I think I'd have to see the trailer and hear out some of the movie critics I agree with before I went to see it, but I'm definitely interested right now.
Wicked's pretty popular, yes. The musical has loads of beautiful songs, and it's a fun spin on the original story. I'm sure any adaptation of it would do extremely well.
@vjenkins86 (1478)
• United States
27 Jun 10
I've never read the original book, "The Wizard of Oz" but I heard the movie definitely differed from it. I'm sure many people, like yourself, who have read the book would be interested in seeing the adaptation claiming to follow the book more closely.
Wicked has its own built-in audience so I'm sure its going to do well.
I'm a big fan of fantasy as well so I can't say I won't be seeing any of these adaptations, because its likely I will especially if it has a really cool trailer. lol.
Thanks for responding.
1 person likes this
@callmecat (247)
• United States
28 Jun 10
Wow, really? I haven't heard of any of them. Well, I have heard of the Wicked thing and I'm curious about it, and I'd probably watch it because I love musicals. I don't like the animated project ideas, but I guess for kid's it's okay. The other ideas sound interesting and I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to them because it's not like they're remaking the movie. They're just trying to expand on it, I guess. But 7 projects expanding on one movie does seem like a lot, even if the movie is a classic. I guess we'll have to wait and see which projects move forward or stop. I'm open to them, but I can definitely understand why some aren't.
