Via Daniel Richtman:
New Line is remaking Wizard of Oz, Nicole Kassell directing. A non musical Lord Of The Rings style reimagining of the Wizard of Oz. For the first time Dorothy will be played by a POC
Who comes up with these insane ideas? Did anyone bother to tell New Line this was a terrible idea? Remaking “The Wizard of Oz” is almost on the same braindead level as the upcoming Robert Downey Jr starring take on “Vertigo.” Next thing you know, “Citizen Kane” will also be getting a touch-up.
Who is Nicole Kassel? She directed the 2004 indie “The Woodsman” and 2011’s “Little Bit of Heaven.” Otherwise, Kassel has mostly dabbled in television, directing episodes of “Watchmen,” “The Americans” and “The Killing.”
I think one of the biggest myths of Hollywood is that the industry is creatively bankrupt. I can assure you that's not the case, there are many people, innumerable amounts, who every day pitch fresh new original ideas, hoping that they will one day get the chance to make it into a movie.
The issue is that all of these big studio executives want to remake/reboot the same franchises over and over again because they're a safe bet to make money.
So, why add the inclusive casting as well? Isn’t there going to be inevitable backlash that Dorothy isn’t a Caucasian redhead? The answer, someone recently told me, makes a lot of sense. These studios rehash old IP and recast them with inclusive actors because they get the advantage of having free marketing from people arguing about it online.
Quite ingenious. It’s cultivated viral marketing.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.