Yesterday we attended the press conference for Oz: The Great and Powerful, the amazing new Wizard of Oz prequel directed by Sam Raimi (Spider-Man Trilogy). Raimi was joined by Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and producer Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland).
Raimi said that the movie was a new challenge for him, primarily due to it being his first 3D film. Shooting, construction, pace of editing, and creating a visually pleasing experience were all things that Raimi said he learned during the filming process. In addition, producer Joe Roth said that it was challenging due to the sheer scope of the movie sets being utilized. Filmed in Detroit, as many as seven soundstages were used during production. Much of what you will see in the film is real, with green screen playing a secondary role. Mila Kunis described the set as “magical”.
Oz is Michelle Williams’ first time starring in a big budget feature film. Williams, who plays Glinda stated that even with the big budget it wasn’t as big of a departure as she initially thought. “Better food on set, maybe?”, Williams said half-jokingly.
Kunis, who plays opposite Williams as Theodora, the Wicked Witch said that she was careful to not impose on the iconic witch from the original. “I wasn’t paying homage,” Kunis said. “You can’t. You could never replicate it, nor would you ever want to. She’s so iconic, so fantastic in her own right. I was scared going into it. Truly, I was frightened. What do you do? The only thing I could do was be honest to the character. I was given the gift by Sam of having a backstory of why she is the way she is. I went in playing her as real as possible. As long as you believe it, I believe it, and hopefully everybody else will believe it.”
Finally, Williams was asked if she’d entertain returning to a Dawson’s Creek reunion which immediately brought a smile to her face. “I would very happily do a reunion show,” she said. I don’t know what it would be. My character dies in the end. So there are certain limitations for me. It’s either I come back as a ghost or am shot through a gauzy, hazy light, as my 19-year-old self. At some point, I hope it does happen.”
Check out the full trailer and more photos from the press conference below:
