I have a theory that James Franco must have found a genie in a bottle at some point during his life, and wished to have 48 hours in a single day while the rest of us only get 24. Not only is the dude gearing up to host the Oscars, working on a zillion graduate degrees, directing movie versions of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, starring in a Linda Lovelace biopic and heading to Broadway—but as of this morning, he has also been tapped to play the Wizard in “Oz, The Great and Powerful.” The film is a “Wizard of Oz” prequel that tells the story of how the dude ended up in a hot air balloon to Oz, later standing behind a curtain in the Emerald City. Apparently, he was a con man who had the hots for Glinda, the good witch.This role originally went to Robert Downey Jr., but he dropped out a few weeks ago. I guess director Sam Raimi, the man behind the “Spiderman” movies, decided to go in a younger direction?
I love all things Oz, so am pretty excited for this movie, even if I think Franco needs to chillax.