James Franco is riding the wave of buzz from his Oscar co-hosting duties with Anne Hathaway on Sunday and his Best Actor Oscar nod for 127 Hours. The actor reportedly closed a deal to star in the long-gestating Wizard of Oz prequel, Oz: The Great and Powerful, according to Deadline. Both Robert Downey, Jr. and Johnny Depp were previously linked to the title role of Disney’s revisionist fairy tale, which has a rumored $200 million budget. The Hollywood blockbuster will reunite Franco with Spider-Man director Sam Raimi. Production is currently scheduled to begin in July.
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