Robert Zemeckis remaking The Wizard of Oz?

UPDATE: That didn’t take long. Zemeckis has told The Wrap that reports of him directing a remake of The Wizard of Oz are “completely untrue”. Of course, that doesn’t mean another director won’t take the wheel. Anyway, here’s the original report…

It is with great sadness that we report the following news. According to Deadline, Robert Zemeckis is in early talks with Warner Brothers to remake the 1939 musical classic The Wizard of Oz. Surely Judy Garland and co are turning in their graves. Along with 1942’s Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz often tops the list of films that shouldn’t be touched by modern Hollywood.

The remake would work with Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woof’s original script, which was bought by Ted Turner along with MGM’s library before Warner Brothers acquired Turner’s domain. It seems this project may be being rushed through in order to beat out Sam Raimi’s recently confirmed Oz project, Oz: The Great and Powerful, which looks at the story of how the Wizard of Oz came to be.

Zemeckis is best known for directing the Back to the Future trilogy, and more recently for pioneering technology in motion-capture animation with his films The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol. Although he is currently working on a remake of Yellow Submarine, he has expressed a desire to return to live animation. Okay Zemeckis, that’s cool, but why remake a film that’s practically perfect and adored by so many?

If this project goes ahead it won’t be long until casting rumours begin. Can you see Miley Cyrus skipping down the yellow brick road? How about Michael Cera as the Scarecrow, Robert Pattinson as the Tin Man or Jonah Hill as the Cowardly Lion? The fact that Hollywood no longer nurtures or produces actors who can sing, dance and act, the trifecta, gives us hope that unknowns might be cast but we still want to ask Zemeckis: Why?

Dicsuss: No seriously, why?!