My cast for a Wizard of Oz remake(not the 1939 movie,But the actual Oz book.)

Prepare for this thread to just be filled with the influx of those unable to process the notion entertaining of a hypothetical situation that obviously won't happen.

 

BTW I think your picks are extremely $hitty, removed entirely from the fact that the notion of doing the movie is obviously so illogical and wrong, which this thread is not about arguing.

 

I love the original (it's one of my Top 10 favorite movies), but I'd actually like to see a remake.

As for my cast.

Dorothy - a few years ago, I think Alexis Bledel would've been good, but she's in her mid 20s' and they need someone younger for the part. I'm thinking an unknown.

The Scarecrow - definitely Depp.

Tin Man - I can live with Routh, but I think there are better picks. I can see Ewan McGregor working, but there are definitely better choices.

Cowardly Lion - this is a toughie.

The Wicked Witch - maybe Helena Bonham Carter under heavy makeup, kind of like Nicole Kidman in The Hours.

The Wizard - Christopher Lloyd hands down.

Director: I'd also go with Burton. His remake of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory shows he can remake a classic and not insult.

 

Dorothy - Rachel Hurd Wood
Scarecrow - Johnny Depp
Tin Woodsman - Rob Brydon
Cowardly Lion - (voice) Richard Briers
Wicked Witch of the West - Gina McKee
The Wizard - John Hurt
Director - Walter Murch

 

Cowardly Lion should not be CG. They should use puppets and prosthetics, Jim Henson style.

 

What, like a Muppet's Wizard of Oz? Y'know, the film that actually happened.

 

Dunno who I'd cast in an ADAPTATION of Baum's original book, but there would be some significant adjustments in the physical appearance of the main characters, since I would start it out in the present day instead of during the Dust Bowl, it absolutely would NOT be a musical, and Dorothy would actually be transported to an alternate universe instead of it all being a dream:

* Dorothy Gale would have to be high school age, and a Goth chick, with colored hair, heavy eyeshadow, the works. In other words, Dorothy would be unpleasant to look at and be so full of hatred and disgust for being trapped in Kansas that she's not a very nice young person. Toto would be a Chihuahua and they'd drive around in a camper which she uses as part of a mandatory job-service sentence. Who to cast, I can't say.

* The Witch would be a green-skinned sexpot in black leather that could bring James Kirk to his knees. The reason for making Dorothy ugly and the Witch attractive is meant to make the Witch terrifying psychologically: the Witch has everything that Dorothy wants in life - she's what Dorothy could end up becoming if she doesn't get her priorities straightened out and her head screwed on right. Catherine Zeta-Jones, maybe?

* The Scarecrow would be pretty basic, patched together on a farm outside Munchkinville: John Deere ballcap, flannel shirt, coveralls and dockers. The makeup detail would be fun for the artists since it would involve sewn-together burlap skin, a shock of straw hair, and acorn eyeballs with buttons sewn on for the pupils. He's also the only one I'd have a definite pick to play: Owen Wilson.

* The Tin Man would take a cue from Dreamwave's Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover; he transforms into a motorcycle and sidecar, meaning CGI in a few scenes, but it offers a means of expediating the story (since Omaha is the nearest city to me, I imagine Emerald City to be 30 miles from Munchkinville). He's also a dark, tragic figure with nasty hatchet-fighting skills...maybe go with Wesley Snipes.

* The Lion would probably need to be CGI in places, too, but mostly I'd want to stick with animatronics. Also, I'd take a line from the MGM film, when he tells them to check out the circles under his eyes and that he hasn't slept in weeks - make his hair frayed and askew, his fur patchy and disheveled, heavy bags under his eyes, and his tail all chewed up from him biting it nervously so much. I'd say Brad Garrett for the voice.

* Glinda I don't quite know what to do with. Maybe make her very businesslike, wearing expensive suits, always has a cell-phone on her...you don't get many as high-class as her out in the likes of Munchkinville, and not the kind of person to show up first at the scene of a camper being dropped onto a Wicked Witch. I'd pick someone who can be tough but kind - I keep thinking along the lines of Alfre Woodward.

There'd be other touches I'd have to add to make this version interesting: Munchkinville is like any other modern small town, only built at 1/2 scale - including the gas station and local jail; Emerald City, by contrast, would be the Ultimate Futuristic City, and every hue would be shades of green, yellow or blue; the Witch's home would fall somewhere between Tim Burton's Gotham City and Biff's 1985 from BTTF II; the flying monkeys would be gorillas with bat wings dressed like Nazis; the Wizard would fail to take Dorothy back to Kansas for a VERY different and very shocking reason other than the balloon leaving without her; the poppies would play a similar role but in a completely different and definitely controversial context; there would be Kalidahs all over the Yellow Brick Road; oh, yeah...and enough violence to warrant a PG-13 rating.

 

I know. And no. Jim Henson does stuff besides the muppets. They're actually brought in for alot of puppetry and animatronic stuff for movies. They did Labyrenth, the Dark Crystal, and I believe they did the puppetry for Loch Ness.

 

Not to mention all the creature designs for Farscape.

 

Yeah. Those were really good.

 

Dakota Fanning= Overrated.



And I agree that the there not be another Oz film.

 

Not to mention a little movie called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...

 

But those Japanese boys sure do love her.

 

I would like Robocop to be the tin man. "Dorothy, Dead or Alive you're coming with me."

 

dakota fanning is not overrated, she is just in the lime light right now and people talk about her too much, so people get sick of her. kind of like tom cruise, only dakota isn't crazy.

she's actually noe of the most talented (not to mention smart) young actresses today.

 

No thanks. I am all for a book adaptation, but this is all wrong.

 

*vomits*

This is seriously an awful idea. I apologize, but you just raped Baums book. Raped.

 

^

agreed. that really is pretty terrible.

 

The Cowardly Lion should be portrayed by the same lion that played the role of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia, he seems convincing, I bet he can do the opposite of brave.

 

Why would he transform into a motorcycle? Why can't they just walk?

 

Peter Jackson presents The Wizard Of Oz

Dorothy- Natalie Portman (she could still play 15 or 16)
Scarecrow- Adrien Brody
The Tin Man- Ewan McGregor
The Cowardly Lion- Ron Pearlman
The Wicked Witch- Catherine Zeta Jones
Glinda- Kate Bosworth
The Wizard- Either Chrisopher Lloyd or Bill Nigh

 

No apologies necessary; I finally accomplished something this week.

 

Dorothy is 10-12.

What is the deal with everyones obession with PJ? PJ is wrong for Oz. Has anyone here even read the book? Kate Bosworth for Glinda? First of all, Glinda is the witch of the south. The witch of the north is actually a very short old lady who dresses in white. Kate Bosworth is not that. Not to mention, as an American fairytale, the entire cast should be American. End of story.

*sigh*

 

Well, why do they all have to be American. Alot of good British actors can fake American accents.