Believe it or not, there are now four potential Wizard of OZ inspired TV projects vying for the attention of fans.
According to Deadline, the newest contender is “Dorothy Must Die,” based upon the upcoming young adult novel by Danielle Paige. “Dorothy Must Die” takes place 80 years after Dorothy’s adventure in the Wizard of OZ, as the eternally youthful Dorothy has become fascist dictator with her trusted henchmen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.
The main character of “Dorothy Must Die” is a young woman from modern day Kansas who finds herself in OZ as an unlikely revolutionary against Dorothy’s reign alongside witches and other magical creatures.
“Heroes” creator Tim Kring is executive producing “Dorothy Must Die” alongside Adam Armus and Nora Kay Foster, the writers of the pilot. The “Dorothy Must Die” book will be released in April 2014.
The current batch of “OZ” TV projects started earlier this summer with Syfy’s proposed “Warriors of OZ” miniseries from director Timur Bekmambetov. CBS followed with “Dorothy,” which is described as a medical drama inspired by L. Frank Baum’s OZ novels. NBC also got into the game with “Emerald City;” which was supposedly a “Game of Thrones” inspired take on OZ.
The OZ bandwagon may be due to the upcoming 75th anniversary of The Wizard of OZ film starring Judy Garland. Oddly enough, Fox and ABC are the only broadcast networks without an OZ inspired TV project of their own.
But given the current trend, that may not be true for long.
