When you’re dealing with subject matter such as the Land of OZ, you better be ready to bring it. If there is ever a director with the imagination to so jus that, it is definitely Sam Raimi. Opening March 8th, 2013, Disney is hoping that you believe that as well. The film is is intended as a prequel to the timeless 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz and is adapted from L. Frank Baum‘s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  So no pressure Mr. Raimi.

Well, the first trailer just dropped after the Comic-Con panel and I have to say, it is very, very pretty. Raimi has created a very different type of OZ than the one we have all grown up with and it works well. Not sure about James Franco in the lead as a young magician who gets whisked away to the magical fabled land, however Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz look very good even though we are getting only a glimpse of them.

This is a bold move for Disney as the idea is a very different one and I would say even very original (even though the characters are well known). It’s a different take on an icon and I will definitely give them a pass on calling it a remake/reboot/redo whatever.

Check out the trailer above.

RELATED – Teaser Poster for Sam Raimi’s Oz The Great And Powerful

About the Film
When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis) Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.