After spending over $300 million on Oz The Great and Powerful, the execs at Disney can finally rest easy as the film is tracking to make $70 million this weekend at the box office. That’s a pretty respectable number and the film will likely be the first real blockbuster of the year, despite the mediocre reviews that it has been receiving. Of course, a sequel was greenlit pretty quickly and the one question that immediately sprung up was whether or not director Sam Raimi will return.
In a recent interview, the director commented on the sequel, saying that he likely won’t be returning.
“I haven’t planned on directing the sequel,” Raimi said “I did leave some loose ends for another director if they want to make the picture… I was attracted to this story but I don’t think the second one would have the thing I would need to get me interested.”
That quote doesn’t give me much faith in the sequel. If Raimi isn’t interested in it then does that mean the story they have planned out isn’t worthy of the director’s time and effort? Maybe he just wants to try his hand at something different? Could it be that he wants to focus on Evil Dead 4? I sure hope so!
Either way, this is upsetting news. Raimi’s creative flair definitely shone through in the film and on the whole, I thought Oz The Great and Powerful was pretty enjoyable, despite a few flaws that were for the most part, not entirely Raimi’s fault. As a director, I think he did a pretty solid job and it’s a shame that he won’t be returning for the sequel.
The question that is on everyone’s mind now is who will step into Raimi’s shoes? Who is Disney currently eyeing for their sequel? As always, feel free to sound off with your thoughts in the comments below and tell us who you would like to see direct the Oz The Great and Powerful sequel.
