Spider-Man director Sam Raimi gets green light for Wizard of Oz prequel

Director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Evil Dead) has officially been given the go-ahead to direct a prequel to the classic The Wizard of Oz, according to Cinematical. According to the report, up until now the project was stalled as Raimi developed his World of Warcraft adaptation.

The film is currently called Oz: The Great and Powerful, and tells the origin story of how the Wizard of Oz became the evil dictator of the fantasy world of Oz. It’ll track his days as a circus wrangler through right up until a tornado brought him to the magical land of Oz. David Lindsay-Abaire, who wrote the play Rabbit Hole, is currently re-writing the script, and Robert Downey Jr. is in negotiations to take on the role of the Wizard.

There was no word on Sam Raimi’s status with the World of Warcraft epic, now that he’s firmly at the helm of the Oz prequel. They’ll be lots more on this story to come.