Wizard Of Oz

Legendary Entertainment is developing a new ‘Wizard of Oz’ TV series, based on L. Frank Baum’s book series, which was adapted into the immortal 1939 MGM film musical.  The difference this time is that it will focus on stories and characters that have not been previously explored.  The new series comes from Edward Ricourt, who stated:

“I’m thrilled to partner with Legendary TV and dj2 to adapt my take on Baum’s rich, complex OZ book series which has influenced me creatively since childhood.”

Here is the show’s logline:

When the return of a long-exiled Witch brings fear, division and war to Oz, the only hope is a servant girl who may become the most powerful and dangerous woman in the land.

Ricourt served as writer and executive producer on ‘Wayward Pines‘ and as a consulting producer on ‘Jessica Jones‘.  He also wrote the movies ‘Now You See Me’ and ‘Now You See Me 2’, and episodes of the upcoming Netflix superhero show ‘Raising Dion‘, which will star Michael B. Jordan, who also serves as an executive producer.

It was not stated what network or streaming service this show would go to, so it looks as if this ‘Oz’ series is being developed independently and will be shopped around later.

Most recently, NBC aired the ‘Game of Thrones’-esque series ‘Emerald City’, directed by Tarsem Singh, which only lasted ten episodes in 2017.  Before that, in 2011, ‘Dorothy and the Witches of Oz’ aired in Europe, followed by an airing in the United Kingdom in 2012.  In 2007, Syfy (known as the Sci-Fi Channel at the time) aired the ambitious miniseries ‘Tin Man’, which starred Zooey Deschanel,  Richard Dreyfuss, and Alan Cumming, and won an Emmy Award for Makeup.

Of course, nearly every cartoon and live-action series has paid tribute to ‘Oz’ at some point, including ‘Supernatural’ and ‘Once Upon a Time’, just to name two.

Check back for updates as they arrive.  Are you excited at the prospect of a new ‘Oz’ live-action series?

Source: Variety