and complaining that "while Raimi's Oz is like retinal crack, he never seduces our hearts and minds. Get it as soon as Wed, Feb 24. View All Photos (33) Oz the Great and Powerful Quotes. The production team worked under the constraint of abiding by the stipulations set forth by Warner Bros., the legal owner of the rights to iconic elements of the 1939 film (via its Turner Entertainment sister company which purchased the MGM film library in 1986), including the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland. News, "We're all signed on for sequels. The circus strongman learns Oscar has flirted with his wife and threatens him. FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon. [77] In total grosses, Oz's largest countries are Russia and the CIS ($27.4million), China ($25.9million) and the UK, Ireland and Malta ($23.4million). Glinda and her subjects mount a fake attack on the Emerald City using a pulley-rig army of scarecrow puppets hidden by thick fog. Oscar reveals his deception to Finley and forces him to maintain the idea that he is the wizard. Chlo Grace Moretz will replace Joey King as the voice the China Girl. "[83] IGN rated the film 7.8 and said, "The film is expansive and larger-than-life in scope and so are the performances, overall. Raimi, who often casts friends and actor-regulars in cameo roles, cast his brother Ted as a small-town skeptic at Oscar's magic show who yells "I see a wire! He presents gifts to his friends: Master Tinker, who helped build his machines, receives Oscar's jackknife while Knuck, the grumpy Munchkin herald, 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. Roth stopped him on the sixth book, The Emerald City of Oz, which had some of the Wizard's backstory. Puppetry was employed for a physical version of the China Girl to serve as a visual key-point for actors to manipulate. But just when you see Raimi's kinetic, signature style starting to unleash, the story forces the film back into its Disney shell to play to the masses. [57][58] The estimated marketing campaign cost upwards of $100million. [75], On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Oz the Great and Powerful received an approval rating of 57% based on 269 reviews, with an average rating of 6.02/10. ", "Oz the Great and Powerful review - Wicked or wussy: Which witch is worse? [97] Mila Kunis said during an interview with E! [30][47] Raimi had to edit the frightening nature of several scenes to secure Disney's desired PG-rating from the MPAA. There he encounters the nave witch Theodora, who believes him to be the wizard prophesied to become King of Oz by defeating the Wicked Witch, who killed the previous king. Here, too, the actors often look artificially superimposed against their CG backdrops, though the intensity of the fakery generates its own visual fascination. Oz The Great And Powerful Premiere Press Conference. For sheer visual splendor, Oz the Great and Powerful is hard to beat. [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. "[43], Sam Raimi on recreating the Land of Oz under legalities.[30]. It is a prequel to Baum's 1900 introductory novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and indirectly to the 1939 MGM film, The Wizard of Oz starring James Franco Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a charming magician nicknamed Oz, charms a pretty country girl with an obviously fake story about his grandma's music box.