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 novels and set 20 years before the events of the original 1900 novel,[5] the film is a spiritual prequel to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz.[6] Starring James Franco in the title role, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Bill Cobbs, Joey King, William Bock, and Tony Cox, the film tells the story of Oscar Diggs, a deceptive magician who arrives in the Land of Oz and encounters three witches: Theodora, Evanora, and Glinda. Oscar is then enlisted to restore order in Oz while struggling to resolve conflicts with the witches and himself.
Oz The Great And Powerful 2013 H
Oz the Great and Powerful premiered at the El Capitan Theatre on February 14, 2013, followed by a general theatrical release on March 8, 2013, in Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D formats. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film grossed over $493 million worldwide against a $200 million budget, making it the 13th-highest-grossing film of 2013. The film won the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Live Action Family Film[7] and Kunis won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for her performance as the Wicked Witch of the West.[8]
Oscar, now ruler of Oz, uses his projector to sustain the belief that he is a powerful wizard. He presents gifts to his friends: Master Tinker, who helped build his machines, receives Oscar's jackknife while Knuck, the grumpy Munchkin herald who was called "Sourpuss" by Oscar as a running gag throughout the movie, receives a mask with a smiley face; the long-suffering Finley receives Oscar's friendship along with his top hat and China Girl accepts her friends as her new family. Finally, Oscar takes Glinda behind the curtains of his projector, thanks her for making him a better person, and they kiss.
The film's opening sequence is presented in black and white. When Oscar is caught up in the tornado, the audio switches from monaural to stereo and eventually surround sound.[15] The film shifts to full color when Oscar arrives in Oz; additionally, the aspect ratio gradually widens from 4:3 Academy ratio to 2.35:1 widescreen.[16][17] As in the 1939 film, Glinda travels in giant bubbles, and the Emerald City is actually emerald; in the novel, characters wear tinted glasses to make it appear so, though during the battle preparations sequence Oz can be seen wearing emerald goggles. The iconic green look of the Wicked Witch of the West is closer to her look in the 1939 film, as the Witch is a short, one-eyed crone in the novel. The Wicked Witches are portrayed as sisters, an idea which originated in the 1939 film. Also from the 1939 film is that several actors who play Oz characters make cameos in the Kansas segments, such as Frank, Oscar's assistant whom he refers to as his "trained monkey" (Frank's "Oz" counterpart is the winged monkey Finley) and a young disabled girl who serves as the Kansas counterpart to China Girl (in Kansas, Oscar is unable to make the wheelchair-using young girl walk, and gets a chance to do so when he repairs China Girl's broken legs); Annie who inspires Oscar to be a good and great person (Annie's "Oz" counterpart, Glinda, also inspires Oscar to be a better person) informs him that she has been proposed to by John Gale, presumably hinting at Dorothy Gale's parental lineage.[18] Annie is seen wearing a gingham dress, a pattern famously associated with Dorothy. Interestingly, the names of Dorothy's parents are not mentioned in Baum's book, but John and Ann Smith are Ellie's parents from the book "The Wizard of the Emerald City" by Alexander Volkov.
American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey recorded a promotional single called "Almost Home" written by Carey, Simone Porter, Justin Gray, Lindsey Ray, Tor Erik Hermansen, and Mikkel Eriksen (a.k.a. Stargate) for the soundtrack of the film. The single was released on February 19, 2013 by Island Records.[51] The original soundtrack to Oz the Great and Powerful was released digitally and physically by Walt Disney Records on March 5, 2013.[52] The physical CD release was released in association with Intrada Records on March 26.[53]
In May 2011 before filming began, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures gave Oz the Great and Powerful a March 8, 2013 North American theatrical release date.[54] The film had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on February 14, 2013.[13] Disney opened the film in wide release in 3,912 theaters.[55]
Oz the Great and Powerful was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and digital download on June 11, 2013.[59] The film is Disney's first home media release to exclude a physical digital copy disc and instead provides only a digital code for the download.[60] Oz the Great and Powerful debuted at number one in its first week of home media release in overall disc sales with 46% of its first week sales from Blu-ray Discs.[61] The film has earned $52 million in sales.[62]
Oz the Great and Powerful earned $234.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $258.4 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $493.3 million.[4] Worldwide, it was the thirteenth-highest-grossing film of 2013.[63] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $38.4 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues, making it the 13th most profitable release of 2013.[3] It topped the box office on its worldwide opening weekend with $149 million.[64] Before its theatrical release, several media outlets reported that Oz the Great and Powerful was expected to duplicate the box office performance of 2010's Alice in Wonderland.[65][66][67] However, Oz accumulated less than half of Alice's worldwide gross.[68]
On March 7, 2013, Variety confirmed that Disney has already approved plans for a sequel, with Mitchell Kapner returning as screenwriter.[97] Mila Kunis said during an interview with E! News, "We're all signed on for sequels".[citation needed] On March 8, 2013, Sam Raimi told Bleeding Cool that he has no plans to direct the sequel, saying, "I did leave some loose ends for another director if they want to make the picture", and that "I was attracted to this story, but I don't think the second one would have the thing I would need to get me interested".[98] On March 11, 2013, Joe Roth said to the Los Angeles Times that the sequel would "absolutely not" involve Dorothy, with Kapner pointing out that there are twenty years between the events of the first film and Dorothy's arrival, and "a lot can happen in that time".[99] As of 2022, Disney has not begun development on a sequel.
Have you ever wondered how the Wizard of Oz got that auspicious title? Find out in this tale of a Kansas magician (James Franco) who gets swept away by a tornado into a bewitched land where he must prove he can be great and powerful.
However just as Dorothy was disheartened to discover the truth about the great wizard behind the curtain in the Emerald City, some viewers may be disappointed to find that showmanship and deception are still at the core of what this prestidigitator depends on. He is admittedly a much-improved man thanks to his time in Oz, but his propensity for monkey business still raises moral questions worth discussing.
Oz considers lies to be steppingstones to greatness. How does Finley feel about the untruths? How can a person discern when someone is lying? Besides trying to fool others, how is Oz dishonest with himself? How do others help him discover the goodness within?
The first person Oscar meets is Theodora (Mila Kunis), who immediately falls in love with him. She thinks he is the one to save Oz from the Wicked Witch, whom no one has seen, but everyone knows about. The Wicked Witch poisoned the King, but prior to his death, he spoke of a prophecy that one day a great and powerful wizard with the name of Oz would come and defeat the Wicked Witch and reclaim the land. Theodora thinks that Oscar is the man to do just that and starts picking out china patterns. If only she had taken a moment to play 20 questions with Oscar, she could have saved herself (and two movies) worth of trouble. Oscar goes along with her because he is a con man, and that is in his nature, and because she is quite good-looking. Men have done more for less.
L. Frank Baum wrote 18 books about the world of Oz, and it is from this well that the screenwriters Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire pull from. However, the arc of this movie involves a con man, a circus magician, a hack embracing who he is and using his tricks, his smoke and mirrors to save the day. These are the very things the 1939 film mocked and tried to subvert. When the curtain was pulled back on the great and powerful Oz, he was a tired old man who Dorothy and the audience pitied. I wonder what happened between Oz and Glinda between the end of Oz the Great and Powerful and The Wizard of Oz. I imagine that Oz became drunk on his own power, ditched the beautiful and kind Glinda, and became a lonely and sad old man. That might not exactly follow the Disney formula, but it would have made for a much more interesting movie.
In the end, Oz saves the day along with all the great people who call the land of Oz home. With teamwork, bravery, and goodness, they take on the wicked witch and all is happy again. I thought the story was clever, smart, and fun. A nice way to introduce the Wizard of Oz for sure. This girl loved every minute of it. 2ff7e9595c
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