Oz: The Great and Powerful ArtworkOne of the most promising films coming our way next year is Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful. With James Franco taking the lead as Oz himself, we have a lot to look forward to.

The first trailer was amazing back in the summer, and it’s been very much one to look forward to ever since.

We recently saw the great first part of a new three-part series of posters/artwork, teasing the Wicked Witch of the West, and now the second part has debuted over at Yahoo Movies, giving us a great look at some of the flying monkeys and other creatures we have to look forward to next spring.

“When Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot – fame and fortune are his for the taking – that is until he meets three witches, Theodora, Evanora and Glinda, who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity – and even a bit of wizardry – Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.”

Franco will be joined by an all-star cast, headed up by Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, Abigail Spencer, Tim Holmes, and Joey King, with Zach Braff lending his vocal talents to the project.

Raimi is directing from a script by Mitchell Kapner (The Whole Nine Yards) and David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), with Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland) producing, and Raimi partnering once more with Danny Elman (Spider-Man), who’s scoring the film.

Oz: The Great and Powerful will be hitting the big screen on 8th March, 2013, and given the rather grand scope of the film, I’m hoping it will secure an IMAX release too. For the time being, here’s the great new piece of artwork, which you can click to enlarge.

Oz: The Great and Powerful Artwork