What If?: a new Wizard Of Oz movie....

There has been some talk for years about doing a 'remake' of Wizard of Oz, though the term 'remake' doesnt seem to fit since a new version would certainly not be a musical like the classic.
I for one would fully support an updated cinematic adaptation of the classic book.
In another thread a few weeks back I detailed what the stipulations would be, IMO, for a movie deserving a 'remake' or 'update'.
One of the main points I made was that if an update can considerably improve upon, SFX, costumes, sets and overall production design as well as change up from a musical to a non-musical, then I think a new Wizard of Oz movie is ripe for the picking.
Who would direct it?
The obvious choice would be Tim Burton, and though I am a big fan, I must admit his production design is becoming far too predictable and somewhat tired at this point.
I believe an updated Wizard Of Oz, with today's effects technology coupled with a screenplay that more closely fallows the original book would be a big hit - and since it would not be a musical, it would take nothing away from the classic film.
Your thoughts?

I'd love to see that happen, but it'd have to be done right.

God forbid Tim Burton touch it. Makes me want to vomit just thinking about it.
Del Torro would be a good choice IMHO

I'd like to see it done geared toward adults though. Dark, somewhat spooky. Creepy little munchkins, and a badass witch.
The flying monkeys would have to be done the way they were in InkHeart. Awesome.

I can see everything but the cowardly lion. How would you do that? CGI? Blech. A man in a costume? Double blech. I think that character alone would make or break the film

Provided it's a re-imagining and not a remake I'd go see it. To try and actually remake the original would be a sin punishable only by going directly to the 9th level of Hell.

*ahem*

I'm REALLY unimpressed with the way CG is used in a lot of films now a days as well. Still though it would be neat to think about...

You're right - Burton does need to stay away and it does need to be a little 'dark' much like Return to Oz was.
The lion looked pretty good in Return to Oz, but it was a simple animatronic. I would suspect he would be totally CG for a new one - if they can make him look as good as Aslan in Narnia I think it will work well.
Just imagine how great the movie will look with today's filmmaking technology! Just don't get to 'Lucas' with it and it will be fine - you know what I mean!

I would love to see a modern take by someone awesome. Darren Aronofsky comes to mind. Think about "The Fountain".

I think James Cameron has the rights to a remake

edit: I was kidding, anyways. A website did a poll about casting choices...some interesting picks

http://www.popeater.com/2009/09/24/c...z-anniversary/

GeneralFROSTY said:

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The obvious choice would be Tim Burton, and though I am a big fan, I must admit his production design is becoming far too predictable and somewhat tired at this point.
I believe an updated Wizard Of Oz, with today's effects technology coupled with a screenplay that more closely fallows the original book would be a big hit - and since it would not be a musical, it would take nothing away from the classic film.
Your thoughts?

They already tried in the 90s... Tim Burton was involved... I don't think it got very far. Just a bunch of scripts and concept work was done. It never got off the ground.

Yeah, I can see it already... Tim Burton directs, Oz is now given the distinct "Burton feel." That is, lots of black spirals and stripes. The Wizard will of course be played by Johnny Depp and the Wicked Witch by Helena Bonham Carter. For some reason, the Wizard will have a much larger part in this movie and appear in all of the ads. The munchkins will all look the same as they are all played by Deep Roy.

darthgordon said:

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Yeah, I can see it already... Tim Burton directs, Oz is now given the distinct "Burton feel." That is, lots of black spirals and stripes. The Wizard will of course be played by Johnny Depp and the Wicked Witch by Helena Bonham Carter. For some reason, the Wizard will have a much larger part in this movie and appear in all of the ads. The munchkins will all look the same as they are all played by Deep Roy.

Exactly what I was thinking... No thanks!

See the documentary " The secret of OZ" . That should kill the idea for you

YouTube - "The Secret of Oz" FREE English version - order a DVD or donate @ SecretofOz dot com


I would rather see a new story , Maybe something about an upside down house that is worth more than it could ever be sold for and the crazy people that built it and financed it.

00MrNotWrong00 said:

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See the documentary " The secret of OZ" . That should kill the idea for you

YouTube - "The Secret of Oz" FREE English version - order a DVD or donate @ SecretofOz dot com


I would rather see a new story , Maybe something about an upside down house that is worth more than it could ever be sold for and the crazy people that built it and financed it.

politics is a big no no

EvilRocketeer said:

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politics is a big no no

This actually is not political.

This goes over the history of money, and only touches on politics briefly.

Politics and economics are two different things.

I'll give you that the source material is based on us economics witch is hard to distinguish with us politics.

EvilRocketeer said:

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politics is a big no no

This post made me a little nervous so I went back and watched the film a third time.

This is economics not politics .

00MrNotWrong00 said:

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This post made me a little nervous so I went back and watched the film a third time.

This is economics not politics .

true, but members here will turn it into politics... trust me, I seen it happen before...haha

plus, it touches it briefly, which will start into an argument

Honestly, there already was a remake. Twice remade, in fact. I think its safe to say to leave it alone.

You could also do a straight adaptation of the book. Such a feat has not been achieved for many, many years in Hollywood's long history of re-imagining and their obsession to make everything dark, convoluted and avoiding the themes and ideas of the original author.

I'd like to see a more quirky Land of Oz, munchkins wearing a lot of blue with pointed shoes and little bells etc ...

A combination of Del Toro and the characters done how they did the effects for the na'vi in Avatar would do well for a remake of this movie.

What if we shortened the title to make it more fresh and hip to the modern demographic? We could call it "Zardoz". Brilliant!

I have absolutely no interest in a Wizard of Oz film made by Tim Burton.

CB2001 said:

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I think its safe to say to leave it alone.

Well, with that line up, how can we not make something better and worthwhile?

Todd McFarlane actually did some redesigns of the OZ characters for his Twisted Oz story and expressed an interest in doing a film version, but doing it his way would probably fall into more of a bondage type film. I'm sure some of you have seen them.
I would not be interested in seeing Tim Burton make any film anymore. But thats just my opinion. I think the best way to go would be to make a straight adaptation of the original book.

Did anyone here like Tin Man?

I liked Tin man. i think with a higher budget and better writers/director etc (and some tweaks) it could make a great big screen adaptation. It had some unique and innovative twists, needs work as it had some really bad bits too

So many of these remakes have worked out so well, so why not?

Because it stupid that's why not.

Once something reaches the type of status that WOZ has, you leave it the hell alone.