Over the weekend, Disney’s ‘Wizard of Oz’ prequel from the mind of Sam Raimi, ‘Oz: The Great And Powerful,’ took in around $80.2 million domestically. With numbers like that, it’s no surprise that the House of Mouse wants to move forward with a sequel. However, the director doesn’t seem interested in revisiting Oscar Diggs, Glinda the Good Witch, and the whole gang from Oz.

According to Bleeding Cool, who had a chance to talk to Raimi while he was in London for the premiere of the film, the director doesn’t plan on being involved in another trip to the Land of Oz. Here’s what he had to say about the sequel which is being penned by Mitchell Kapner:

“I haven’t planned on directing the sequel. I did leave some loose ends for another director if they want to make the picture. I tried to make it a complete ending, so that the audience would be fulfilled, but I also let Evanora and Theodora get away.

I was attracted to this story but I don’t think the second one would have the thing I would need to get me interested.”

Sam Raimi

Very few details are available about the next trip down the yellow brick road since the first one just hit theaters. Kapner was just recently hired to write it, and producer Joe Roth  said to the LA Times that Dorothy Gale definitely won’t be involved because ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’ takes place 20 years before that iconic twister brings her to the wonderful world. Roth says that “a lot can happen in that time”, so maybe something will come up that gets Raimi interested enough to return.In my opinion, it wouldn’t be the same if Disney proceeded with a sequel without Raimi. To me, the best part of ‘Oz: The Great And Powerful’ was the extraordinary vision that he brought to the table. There was a great combination of whimsy, terror, and wonder thanks to his background in horror. But he succeeded in not really spreading it on too thick on account of the Disney audience. It was just an overall tremendous cinematic experience, largely thanks to Raimi. If they make a sequel without him, I doubt that they could recreate his vision of Oz with the same level of success.

What do you think about Disney moving forward with another Oz movie? Do you think that it’ll have the same amount of success without director Raimi? And what do you think this sequel would be about if it doesn’t jump over to Dorothy’s story? Share your thoughts in the comments below!