Sam Raimi has been offered the chance to direct new Oz film Oz, The Great And Powerful .
Vulture report that Disney have shoved the project in the ex- Spider-Man and Evil Dead director's direction, with the studio hoping to get cameras rolling as soon as this year.
Written by Whole Nine Yards scribe Mitchell Kapner, this new story follows the wizard as a charlatan who is part of a travelling circus – and then goes on a journey through the lands of Oz.
Other directors who have shown an interest include Guillermo Del Toro and Timur Bekmambetov, while Sam Mendes considered taking on the project with Robert Downey Jr as the wizard.
Raimi’s diary is pretty full at the moment, though, what with a film version of World Of Warcraft calling his name and various other films giving him the eye.
Meanwhile, there’s competition from Drew Barrymore’s rumoured next project Surrender Dorothy - a sequel to the original story - as well as various other Oz projects that are on the burn.
It would be an interesting project for Raimi, there’s no doubt. Having returned to his horror roots with the hoot-fest that was Drag Me To Hell , the fantastical Oz could give him room to develop in a new direction that he’s left relatively untapped in the past.
Would Raimi be a perfect fit for this project?
