James Franco is Oz the Great and Powerful

Remember  back when we all thought Samuel L. Jackson was the busiest man in Hollywood? Well he's still busy but not nearly as prolific as James Franco is. His name has been attached to pretty much every big(and small) production on the horizon, yet still finds time to host the Academy Awards and prep films for his own directorial efforts.  Crazy.  His former Spider-Man director, Sam Raimi, has been struggling to find someone to play the lead in Oz the Great and Powerful, a prequel to The Wizard of Oz.  James Franco to the rescue!


After Robert Downey Jr. dropped out, and Johnny Depp passed, Raimi quickly turned his attention to Franco. Deadline has the story, reporting that Franco has now officially signed on, where he'll play an arrogant illusionist whose hot air balloon crashes in the land of Oz. That's where he runs into the Wicked Witches we've come to recognize from the 1939 film. Mila Kunis is set to play  the Wicked Witch of the West.

I don't know where he finds the time or the energy, but Franco makes for a much better option in my book than Depp or Downey. While I respect both of their work, I feel like they've both become sortof locked into a particular personality and it comes through in every single film they do. Franco has shown remarkable diversity of late, which should continue with this movie as well.