Syfy is Updating ‘The Wizard of Oz’ With Help From the Director of ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’
The Syfy channel wants to get in on the recent resurgence of 'The Wizard of Oz'-related material with their own revised and rebooted Oz. The plan is to move the story to a post-apocalyptic future, and have 'Abraham LIncoln: Vampire Hunter' director Timur Bekmambetov at the helm of their version, which is titled 'Warriors of Oz.'
As Deadline informs us, it would follow a hero from present day who gets sent to the post-apocalyptic future version of Oz and must work with warriors Heartless, Brainless, and Coward to defeat the evil wizard (it sound like there's no wicked witch). High concept action has been Bekmambetov's specialty since he broke out with his Russian film 'Night Watch,' so he seems a good fit for the material. Currently he's to executive produce the miniseries, and is likely to direct one if not more of the episodes. The project is currently looking for writers.
And as laughable as the premise is, it's just taking the broad story outline, and will likely exist on its own. It doesn't sound like it's trying to recapture the magic of the 1939 film like Sam Raimi's 'Oz: the Great and Powerful' was going for. And considering how many westerns used Shakespeare and Japanese films as a basis for their subject matter, this is no better or worse. Then again, this is the network that brought us 'Sharknado.'