‘Black-ish’ creator Kenya Barris to reimagine ‘The Wizard of Oz’

The creator of the hit show Black-ish, Kenya Barris, will reboot the classic movie The Wizard of Oz for Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. owns the rights to the 1939 movie and wants to bring it into modern days. The original movie starred Judy Garland, Billie Burke, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr. Barris will produce the movie through his production company Khalabo Ink Society, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Also in the works is an animated version of the classic movie, with Mark Burton working on the script. It would be told from Toto, the dog’s perspective. Barris, for his part, is also working on a new comedy with Snoop Dogg called The Underdoggs with MGM. MGM and Barris have also teamed up on a biopic of the legendary comedian Richard Pryor.

This The Wizard of Oz is going to be different than a version planned by New Line Cinema, which Nicole Kassell will direct. New Line said the film will be a “fresh take” on the franchise. There are no concrete details about Barris’s version just yet.

Both of the upcoming reboots will use author L. Frank Baum’s source material, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz originally published in 1900. Barris also has another project in the works: a new feature film called You People for Netflix. The show, written along with Jonah Hill, deals with love and culture clashes and stars Eddie Murphy, Hill, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Nia Long.

In addition to the sitcom Black-ish, Barris is also responsible for the spinoffs Grown-ish and Mixed-ish. He also wrote the screenplay for the 2019 Shaft remake.