Robert Zemeckis Will NOT Direct Oz Remake
And, despite being a great visionary, Zemeckis obviously realized that those are some awfully big ruby slippers to fill!
That said, when will Warner Bros. realize the same?
I get the horrible feeling that the studio WILL continue to look for a director with an ego big enough to think a remake can improve, or even top, the original.
Career suicide? Yep!
Box office bomb? Yep!
We’re not talking about an adaptation of an “Oz” story here, we’re talking about an exact page for page remake of the original 1939 script! It should be illegal!!!
Tom Hanks recently turned down the lead in a “Harvey” remake, refusing to even look at the script because of the realization that no one, not even him, could fill Jimmy Stewart’s shoes. It’s a moral issue and I was glad to see that Hanks had the foresight and RESPECT to leave well enough alone. I was, however, extremely disappointed to learn that Steven Spielberg was on board as director! Spielberg?! Yep, Steven Spielberg!
What was HE thinking?
Don’t mess with perfection!
Michelle Vogel
Michelle Vogel (Author) - michellevogelhollywoodnews.com 
CGI technology plus the enhanced 3-D experience = big dollars for any remake of a fantasy classic. And as you know Michelle that’s the bottom line in mainstream Hollywood. Will it be inferior to the original – of course. But is there a market for a new digitally enhanced version? Yes. Some of these classics will be 100 years old in a few decades so it’s only natural a new generation of film makers will want to try their own version. And remember the film is based on a book. The book can be adapted by anyone who wishes to tackle it. As long as the original film continues to exist and is available for viewing I see nothing wrong with a new version. If it bombs it will disappear soon enough.
Oh noooooo…Warner Bros. own the rights to the original script (thanks to Ted Turner) and they fully intend to use it, Paul…word for word
See article link here: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/11/17/robert-zemeckis-wizard-of-oz-remake/
Robert Downey Jr. was the first name to be thrown around…and as much as I like him as an actor, they’d better not be slating him for the role of “Dorothy”! š
It has to be said that the 1939 film was also a REMAKE! Yep, “Oz” had been filmed before, not in any way as extravagant, but it had been done.
The 1939 version is a classic, in every sense of the word and it’s been digitally restored. The new print is absolutely gorgeous. Have you seen it? If you haven’t, check it out. You’ll see things that you’ve missed a million times before. In close ups, you can actually see the threads in the burlap of Ray Bolger’s “Scarecrow” face. It’s pretty amazing.
If this new, modern version IS done (oh, the horror!), I guarantee you, scene by scene, you’ll compare (in your head) the new-fangled CGI-3D extravaganza to the 1939 version. You can’t escape it.
I really hope it doesn’t happen, Paul. Modern Hollywood needs a BIG dose of originality. Today’s filmmakers need to start making their own classics, not ride on the coattails of others.
Oh it’s a remake from the 1939 script. Well that is worse than useless. It demonstrates the sorry state of Hollywood today. What is the point creatively other than a money making exercise?
Who COPIES a classic? Who copies anything? Artists call it forgery.
True enough, Paul. As I said, I hope it never sees the light of day! Besides, there were a ton of Baum books and “Oz” stories…how about adapting another story with the same characters in different situations? Comparisons will still be there, but not like they would be with a scene by scene reshoot.