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Casting Update: Who's in For Oz: The Great and Powerful

Shannon Vestal — Fri, 27 May 2011 11:30:41 PDT

Oz: The Great and Powerful is the latest film project to put a new spin on a childhood classic. Like Broadway musical Wicked, this take on The Wizard of Oz will be a prequel to Dorothy's experience down the yellow brick road, but this time it will be told from the perspective of the wizard himself. The 3D movie is set for a 2013 release, so even though that's a long ways away, I've put together a list of who's been cast so far so you'll know what you're in for.

James Franco will star in the title role as the wizard, a magician whose air balloon blows off course and ends up in the Emerald City, where the citizens look to him to help get rid of the wicked witch plaguing them. Before Franco, Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr. were both attached to the part.
Mila Kunis will play Theodora, the youngest of the three witches who starts out as good, but is convinced by her evil sister to go bad, ending up as the Wicked Witch of the West. No confirmation yet on whether she'll have green skin, but my fingers are crossed.
Rachel Weisz is set to play Evanora, Theodora's older and much more evil sister, the Wicked Witch of the East.
Michelle Williams will play Glinda, the Good Witch of the North and symbol of good in the kingdom.
Zach Braff is the latest to join the cast as Frank, Oz's loyal assistant in the Emerald City. It's been speculated that the character is based on author L. Frank Baum.
Sam Raimi will direct the film, having signed on last Summer. He's best known for helming the three Spider-Man films, so he should be more than ready to take on the effects of the 3D Oz.
Mad Men's Abigail Spencer will play a woman who lets the wizard perform magic tricks on her while in Kansas.

Link Time - Check Out Zack Morris on Weeds!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:30:10 PDT

First look at Mark-Paul Gosselaar on Weeds - TV Addict
Cyberspace outlaws: five movies about hacking - GeekSugar
ABC is turning the website Awkward Family Photos into a TV series - PopWatch
It's official: Sam Raimi will direct Oz, the Great and Powerful - Vulture
This video mash-up of watching movies in movies is awesomely meta - Moviefone
Secrets from the Hellcats set - TV Squad
Chelsea Handler joins This Means War - The Wrap
Check out the movie poster for Kristen Stewart's Welcome to the Rileys - Movieline

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Link Time - OK Go Releases Fun, Hypnotic "End Love"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:30:46 PDT

OK Go plays around with stop motion in its latest music video (cute ending!) - Vulture

First photos of Hugh Jackman in Real Steel - MTV Movies Blog

The Situation raps, and it's spectacular - Best Week Ever

Kevin Spacey plays a dirty lobbyist in this trailer for Bagman - The Playlist

The next band for the Glee kids' repertoire is . . . Coldplay?! - TV Squad

It's official: Sam Raimi will direct Oz the Great and Powerful - Cinematical

Introducing The Real Housewives of D.C. (including that White House crasher) - People

Get psyched FNL fans: Taylor Kitsch and Adrianne Palicki are back - Ausiello Files

The MGMT boys make beautiful music in this video for "It's Working" - Pitchfork

Chef Cat Cora is getting a cooking show on Oprah's OWN - YumSugar

Spider-Man 4 Is Dead, a New Younger Spidey Takes Its Place

BuzzSugar — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:30:00 PST

Following recent script woes, Sony has announced via press release that it's pulling the plug on Spider-Man 4. In its place, they're developing a fresh storyline that takes the webslinger back to high school. The film will reportedly focus "on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises" (wait, I thought that was the first Spider-Man?!).

The studio is eying a Summer 2012 date, but the other big change: it's bringing in a brand-new cast and production team for the reboot. That means that Tobey Maguire and director Sam Raimi are both saying goodbye.

This swap really irks me. To salvage Spider-Man 4's problems by recasting just seems like a desperate attempt at some blockbuster-sized money. Sure, the younger Spidey will give the franchise new life, but I think I would've rather seen it die - at least for several years until the memory of Maguire's version is long gone (heaven help us if they cast a less adept teen heartthrob for the role). Don't you agree? Or are you excited for a makeover of the beloved superhero?

Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:30:42 PDT

Get ready for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: the musical! - Pop Watch
The funniest scenes in zombie movies - Moviefone
The top 10 reasons Letterman confessed to affairs on The Late Show - Zap2it
Summer Heights High's Chris Lilley has a new comedy series in the works called Angry Boys - TV.Com
Artists celebrate Stanley Kubrick in Dublin - Cinematical
Sam Raimi launches his own family friendly horror label - MTV Movies Blog
Check out the new Dead Weather video for "I Cut Like a Buffalo" - Stereogum
Learn to make the classic cocktails of Mad Men - YumSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 7/22

BuzzSugar — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:30:55 PDT

Sam Raimi will direct a live-action movie based on the video game World of Warcraft. - Variety
The Comedy Central series Drawn Together is also getting the feature treatment, but it'll be straight to DVD. - Broadcasting and Cable
Adele, Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson, and Miley Cyrus are VH1's new Divas. - E! Online
Uma Thurman will star in the indie drama Girl Soldier, about a woman who helps rescue schoolgirls in Uganda. - ComingSoon
Wipeout will be back with a mostly new obstacle course. - The Hollywood Reporter
Daughtry tops this week's album sales charts. - Billboard
The novel Beginner's Greek will be adapted for film by the screenwriters of 500 Days of Summer. - ComingSoon
Sam Worthington will star in a remake of Danish thriller The Candidate. - Variety

Movie Preview: Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell

BuzzSugar — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:30:44 PDT

Before there was the Spider-Man franchise, Sam Raimi was directing great horror-genre cult classics like Army of Darkness and The Evil Dead series. I think it's safe to say there will be many Raimi fans who are excited to see him return to horror flicks with the upcoming Drag Me to Hell.

Starring Alison Lohman and Justin Long, the movie is based on a short story written by Raimi and his brother. The trailer is . . . interesting. It's about a bank officer (Lohman) who denies the creepiest old lady ever a loan and then the old lady puts a curse on her (maybe Lohman's character should have watched Yes Man). It's campy and a little over-the-top in spots, but that's Raimi's style. The movie hits theaters May 29. To check out a preview,

Reality Roundup: Game Show in My Head, True Beauty, 13

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:00:38 PST

American Idol's still the biggest thing on TV, but it's not the only reality show hitting the airwaves in January. Lots of new reality shows are starting up next month, and here, I've got previews for three of the biggies.

Ashton Kutcher is behind two of these shows, ABC's True Beauty and CBS's Game Show in my Head. For True Beauty, which premieres Jan. 5, Kutcher has teamed up with Tyra Banks for a show that's attempting to find the person out of 10 gorgeous contestants (models, pageant queens, and the like) who's the most beautiful both inside and out. The twist: The contestants don't know the "inner beauty" part of the game, which will be judged from secret footage by Vanessa Minnillo, Cheryl Tiegs, and Nole Marin. That show premieres Jan. 5.

To hear about the other two shows and see clips of all three, just

read more. Game Show is more classic Kutcher in the Punk'd/Wedding Crashers style: Contestants are sent out into the world wearing an earpiece and told to perform ridiculous actions (wear only underwear and get people to give you their clothes; act like you're a hospital patient who just escaped) for the chance to win cash. Its first two episodes air Jan. 2. And then there's 13: Fear is Real, a horror movie-style reality show from director Sam Raimi. The 13 contestants will be shipped off to a spooky forest where they'll be pitted against each other in challenges straight from horror movies; the weakest links will "die" until only one person remains (I have to assume no actual death is involved). Its visual style is vaguely Blair Witch Project, and I'm amused by the fact that the winner gets $66,666. That one premieres Jan. 7. Below, I've got clips of all three shows, and I'm curious to know if any of them strike your fancy. Check them out and let me know. Photos courtesy of CBS and The CW and copyright 2008 ABC, Inc.

Tobey Maguire, Sam Raimi Ready For Two Spidey Sequels

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:30:38 PDT

Get ready for Spider-Man to weave his blockbuster web at least two more times. The talk of more Spidey sequels started right after Spider-Man 3's big opening weekend last Summer, and now there's news that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are about to commit to two more films.

Though The Dark Knight broke Spider-Man's box office records this Summer, the Hollywood Reporter notes that Spider-Man is still the most profitable movie franchise for Sony, with the first three films combining for a total of $2.5 billion worldwide.

There were some rumors a while back that Maguire might not return for another sequel, though a Sony spokesman said, "Tobey was our only choice and the only person we've discussed the role with." He'll have some time off before getting back into the Spidey suit: The current plan is for the first sequel, written by James Vanderbilt of Zodiac, to start filming in the Fall of 2009. The movies might film back-to-back, Lord of the Rings-style, with Spider-Man 4 hitting theaters in May 2011.

Still up in the air:

Whether Kirsten Dunst will be back as Mary Jane.
Whether any other actors will reprise their roles.
What villains will appear in the next two films.

Most of you weren't exactly thrilled at the prospect of more Spidey, so I'm wondering: What, if anything, would get you back to the theater for a fourth (and fifth) Spider-Man?

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Tom Cruise Aims to Join Comic Book Movie Craze

BuzzSugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:41:17 PDT

From playing foul-mouthed studio exec Les Grossman to the historical figure Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg to. . . superhuman comic book character? Apparently, Cruise is looking to hop on the comic book movie bandwagon with an adaptation of the DC Comics/Wildstorm comic Sleeper, with Sam Raimi producing. Reuters has more details:

Written by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips, Sleeper, which ran from 2003 through 2005, centers on an operative whose fusion with an alien artifact makes him impervious to pain. An intelligence agency places him undercover in a villainous organization and falls for Miss Misery, a member of the group.

Cruise is eyeing the starring role, and Warner Bros. hopes to make it into a franchise.

Ah, but who would play this Miss Misery?

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