Oz the Great and Powerful

Oz the Great and Powerful is a 2013 American fantasy adventure film directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Lindsay-Abaire and Mitchell Kapner, from a story by Kapner. Based on L. Frank Baum's early 20th century Oz books and set two decades before the events of the original 1900 novel, the film is a spiritual prequel to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz. Starring James Franco as the titular character, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Bill Cobbs, Joey King and Tony Cox; the film tells the story of Oscar Diggs, a deceitful stage magician who arrives in the Land of Oz and encounters a trio of witches: Theodora, the Good Witch of the North, Evanora, the Wicked Witch of the East and Glinda, the Good Witch of the South. Diggs is then enlisted to restore order in Oz while struggling to resolve conflicts with the witches and himself. It is Disney's third film adaptation of Baum's works, following Return to Oz (1985) and the television film The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005). Kapner began developing an origin story for the Wizard of Oz after a lifelong interest in wanting to create one for the character. Walt Disney Pictures commissioned the film's production in 2009 with Joe Roth as producer and Grant Curtis, Joshua Donen, Philip Steuer and Palak Patel serving as executive producers. Raimi was hired to direct the following year. After Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp declined the title role in January and February 2011, Franco was cast. Filming took place from July to December 2011. Danny Elfman composed the music score for the film. Oz the Great and Powerful premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on February 13, 2013, and was released theatrically in the United States on March 8, 2013, in Disney Digital 3-D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D formats. It received mixed reviews from critics and was commercially successful, grossing $493.3 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing Oz-related film until Wicked (2024). The film won the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Live Action Family Film and Kunis won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for her performance as the Wicked Witch of the West.