One day after it was reported that Robert Zemeckis was in early talks with Warner Bros. to direct the studio's remake of "The Wizard of Oz," the Oscar-winning filmmaker's publicist has emphatically denied that he'll be involved in the project.
Deal Central was told yesterday by an individual familiar with the proposed remake that WB had approached Zemeckis with the original "Oz" screenplay and the two sides began discussing how a remake might be approached.
However, it now seems as though the result of those discussions is that Zemeckis will not be directing the movie, and will remain focused on prepping his CG-animated remake of "Yellow Submarine" in time for its theatrical release in 2012.
Zemeckis' reps told TheWrap that the initial report from yesterday was "completely untrue." While Zemeckis return to live-action filmmaking was more than welcomed by this writer, it won't be with WB's "Wizard of Oz" remake. On second thought, maybe that's a good thing.
