Bit of news for the ladies and some girl's just have all the luck don't they?
Glee's Lea Michele has landed her perfect movie debut role, as
Variety reports she will lead Summertime Entertainment's animated 3D musical
Dorothy of Oz. In one of several thousand
Oz reboots in the works, Michele will voice and sing original musical numbers written by Canadian rocker
Bryan Adams (so that's where he's been) and his writing partner Jim Vallance. Also,
Jim Belushi will star as the Cowardly Lion,
Dan Aykroyd as the scarecrow and
Kelsey Grammer as the Tin Man! Rather bizarrely at least another six films based on the
Wizard of Oz are reportedly due to be made in the next few years (including one that
Sam Raimi has now seemingly become linked with, read on...) Disney, who have seen reboot success with Tim Burton's
Alice in Wonderland, are working on
The Great and PowerfulOz, a tale that follows the journey of the wizard to the Emerald City. This is probably the highest profile adaptation with Robert Downey Jr a longtime in the frame to play the wizard, and
Vulture reporting that
Sam Raimi may have been offered the chance to direct. (More on that in a future article, when there is less football going on!!)
Drew Barrymore who has tasted director duties and success with the well received
Whip It has signed on to direct
Surrender Dorothy, pitched as a sequel to the 1939 musical. Barrymore was actually in the frame to play the great great granddaughter of Dorothy when the script was brought to her way back in 2002 but it's not known whether at 35 years old she's still the first choice for the part. Add to this two CGI versions, one based on a comic book series and one starring
Lord of the Rings' Samwise Gamgee,
Sean Astin and is titled
The Witches of Oz. Christopher Lloyd is attached as the wizard, it's all a bit much really.
Out of all of them it seems the
Dorothy of Oz may be the first to see the big screen. Lea Michele is clearly a great singer and will do their lead voice justice but seeing as
Glee is one of the hottest shows on television right now, the finale attracting more viewers in the US than any other finale this season (think competition with the end of
Lost, 24, Flashforward) she's bound to bring in a lot of their fans.
Dorothy of Oz is based on children's author Roger S. Baum's (great-grandson of Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum) writings and is slated for a 2012 release.