James Franco and Mila Kunis have officially joined Oz, the Great and Powerful, Walt Disney Pictures confirmed today to ComingSoon.net.
Both recently rumored to star, Kunis will play a witch, Theodora, and Franco the titular lead in the Sam Raimi film, a prequel to the 1939 The Wizard of Oz. Robert Downey Jr. was originally slated to play Franco’s part (the Wizard from the original film, who winds up in Oz following a balloon accident) but he left the project a few months ago.
Kunis most recently appeared in Black Swan and is set to star in Seth MacFarlane’s directorial debut, Ted opposite Mark Wahlberg.
Franco, meanwhile, is set for an eclectic schedule, starring in the upcoming Rise of the Apes and Your Highness, returning to “General Hospital” and teaching a ten week film class at Columbia College entitled “Editing James Franco… With James Franco.” He is also slated to make his directorial debut with an adaptation of William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying.” He previously worked alongside Sam Raimi in the three “Spider-Man” films and with Kunis in Shawn Levy’s Date Night.
