Cool News: 'Army of Darkness' director Sam Raimi to helm 'Oz' prequel...with Robert Downey Jr.?

Let's hope Raimi doesn't have Robert Downey Jr. dancing to bad jazz in OZ

Sam Raimi is known to film geeks as the director of the Evil Dead series, a trilogy of horror-comedies featuring the immortal work of Bruce Campbell, one of film geekdom's most beloved actors (he's currently on something called Burn Notice, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what that is). Most recently, Raimi's been in charge of the Spiderman franchise, but-- as we all know by now-- he was booted off the series by Sony when they couldn't agree on a villain for the fourth film. What's a Raimi to do? Why, jump aboard another franchise altogether, of course! Sam Raimi has just announced that he'll be directing Oz The Great and Powerful in 3D, a prequel to The Wizard of Oz that's sure to be packed with his trademark dark comedy and love of special effects. As an added bonus, Robert Downey Jr. may even be involved. Keep on reading for the details, my gentle Examiner readers...

Normally, I'm opposed to the idea of remakes, prequels, and the like, but the news that Sam Raimi has signed on to direct Oz The Great and Powerful for Disney actually seems like a good idea to me. For years now, Hollywood's been threatening to make one Oz-related project or another, and we all came terribly close to seeing one version that would have been based on the "Twisted Land of OZ" toys that Todd McFarlane created (trust me, it woulda been lame as hell). This project, though, sounds like the best possible version of another Oz movie that we could be getting:

Oz, the Great and Powerful is a script by Mitchell Kapner that was called Brick earlier this year...Kapner’s script takes the idea that the Wizard is also transported to Oz from Kansas, and details how he came to be the power seen in The Wizard of Oz. Kapner based the script off of a collection of influences from L. Frank Baum’s Oz books as well as some ideas of his own to produce a story that suggests “the wizard is a charlatan who’s part of a traveling circus but goes on a similar odyssey as Dorothy when he mysteriously lands in Oz.”

Look, the world of Oz doesn't necessarily seem like the most modern or cool franchise that we could be getting right now, but the idea of putting Raimi-- who's really good when he's connecting with the material (see also: the Evil Dead series and the glorious dark comedy of Drag Me to Hell)-- in charge of this reboot/prequel/whatever it is seems like a good fit. Furthermore, placing Robert Downey Jr. in the "traveling charlatan" role also seems like a natural fit for the actor. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm digging this idea. As long as Raimi keeps the jazz-dance sequences to a minimum, I think we'll be alright.

Furthermore, it would appear that this one's going to be in 3D (is there any way it wouldn't be in 3D after the similar Alice in Wonderland and the not-similar-at-all Avatar made as much bank as they did?), and that's an area that Raimi's fans have been interested in seeing him work in for some time now. Imagine how much cooler the "Doc Octopus wakes up in the hospital" scene in Spiderman 2 would've been with the added bonus of 3D. Again, I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but for this project, I can see this making a lot of sense. Good move on Disney's part, but also completely expected: they couldn't not make this one in 3D, not with this director, this story, and with that incredible box office on Wonderland to consider.

As for Robert Downey Jr. being signed onto the film: nothing's confirmed as of this moment, but an announcement should come along shortly. Deadline Hollywood's reporting that it's a done deal, but there are other sites that don't seem to have that scoop just yet. The consensus seems to be that he's a lock for the role, but no one wants to say it with 100% certainty until he's signed on the dotted line. Perhaps Nikki Finke's got some info that the rest of us don't have yet, however: it's happened before, hasn't it?

That's all we've got for you for now on this one, folks, but stay tuned for more shenanigans along this line in the near future from the Comedy Examiner's Office. We've got all manner of funny videos, news, reviews, interviews, recaps, funny pictures, and more to keep you entertained all summer long, so hit the "Subscribe" button up top to get all of it delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge, the moment it's published. Why, if that wasn't enough, we've also got some other recent Comedy Examiner articles for you to look over while you're here:

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