It seems that Warner Bros is hoping that Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful will be a hit and spark a resurgence in Oz-mania, or at least enough interest to tap into L. Frank Baum's immortal classic and keep it going.
Warner Horizon, a division of WB, is creating an adaptation of Rob Prior's graphic novel, Red Brick Road, a more horror-centric version of the children's classic. Red Brick Road probably has more in common with Game of Thrones or Dungeons & Dragons, than Wizard of Oz, with the classic characters using swords and other medieval weapons to do battle against the wicked.
One might recall that SyFy tried their hand at a darker and edgier Oz in their made-for-TV mini-series called Tin Man, starring Zoey Deschanel, Alan Cumming and Richard Dreyfuss way back in 2007.
Before Red Brick Road, Prior spent most of his career working on Dungeons & Dragons titles in the 80's and providing cover art for such titles as Heavy Metal, Frank Frazetta's Fantasy Illustrated, Spawn: The Impaler, and Terminator 2: Nuclear Twilight.
Warner's "dark" and "edgy" Red Brick Road is said to be a "futuristic sequel" to The Wizard of Oz, whereas Oz the Great and Powerful takes place years before Dorthy's arrival.
Since Red Brick Road is in development, there's no telling when, or if, it will ever get a green light for a pilot. However Oz The Great and Powerful is set to hit theaters March 8th.
So are you ready for a darker and edgier Oz? Please ket us know what you think.
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