Tuesday was all about Disney's 'Oz: The Great and Powerful.' That morning the bright blue “Journey To OZ Balloon" landed in Central Park. Later that evening, Gucci and The Cinema Society hosted a screening of the film at DGA Theater. The man of the hour James Franco was in attendance.
Franco told Elle.com on the red carpet:
"Looking back I'd say the Scarecrow [was my favorite character] if I had to identify with any one. It was the Scarecrow...I was a huge fan of Oz when I was a boy and read all the books, but I didn't really do it because I identified with any character. It was more about how I was transported to a fantastical land; that was the main attraction to me."
Other attendees at the Cinema Society event included Emmy Rossum, Dylan McDermott, Billy Zane, Padma Lakshmi, Lee Daniels, Bebe Neuwirth, Judd Hirsch, Beth Ostrosky Stern, Salman Rushdie, Dick Cavett, Kelly Rutherford, Matthew Settle, Carmen Ejogo, Epatha Merkerson, Stephen Baldwin, Geoffrey Fletcher, Richard Kind, Joe Pantoliano, Pablo Schreiber, Jaime Cepero (Smash), B-52’s Fred Schneider, Alina Cho, Sandra Lee, Patty Smythe McEnroe, Prabal Gurung, Andre Harrell, Amy Sacco, Marina Abramovic, Cynthia Rowley & Bill Powers, John Varvatos, John Demsey, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Charlotte Ronson, Carson Kressley, Carolyn Murphy, Julie Henderson, Carol Alt, Alyssa Miller, Mackenzie Hamilton, Cory Kennedy, Harry Brant, Alex Lundqvist, Cory Bond, Dan Abrams, Jared Kushner, Daniel Benedict, Jason Dundas (VH1), Anh Duong, Sam & Kathryn Shaffer, Duncan Sheik, Will Cotton, Carlos Leon, Klaus Biesenbach, Marina Rust Connor, Renee Rockefeller, Jennifer Creel, Olivia Chantecaille, Sante D’Orazio, Richie Notar (owner of Harlow), and Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir. The party was at hot new called restaurant Harlow, where guests drank Grey Goose cocktails.
Franco also made his way to the Crosby Hotel for HSN's screening of the film, which celebrated their retail partnership with Disney for the film. Franco introduced the movie to the crowd, which included Petra Nemcova, the CEO of HSNi Mindy Grossman, June Ambrose, Naeem Khan, Heidi Bivens, Monika Chiang, Pamela Love, Cecilia Dean, Adelina Wong Ettelson, Adrienne Bailon, Phillip Bloch, Susan Joy, Savannah Wise and Bobbie Thomas.
Disney’s fantastical adventure “Oz The Great and Powerful,” directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum’s beloved wizard character. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great wizard but into a better man as well.
“Oz The Great and Powerful” was produced by Joe Roth, with screen story by Mitchell Kapner and screenplay by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire. Grant Curtis, Palak Patel, Josh Donen and Philip Steuer served as executive producers. “Oz The Great and Powerful” opens in U.S. theaters on this Friday, March 8, 2013.
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