The Wizard of Oz

L. Frank Baum‘s fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has proven a malleable property over the years. Of course everybody knows and loves Victor Fleming’s 1939 film adaptation, then came the urban-set musical revision The Wiz, the villain’s-eye-view retelling Wicked, Sam Raimi’s limp-noodle Oz the Great and Powerful, NBC’s crazytown new gritty-reboot series Emerald City, not to mention the dozens of films that have paid homage to the timeless scenes of Fleming’s film. (The bit in O Brother, Where Art Thou? when our heroes sneak into a KKK meeting like it’s a Winkie stronghold is a particular standout.) And today brings the news that the merry old land of Oz will get yet another new spin, and this time, there will be blood.

Enough Wizard of Oz adaptations have been floated over the past few years that it’s amazing even one made it term, but the awe doesn’t stop there. Behold, NBC’s ultra-ultra-ultra-gritty take on the classic L. Frank Baum tale, as Dorothy crashes into Emerald City in a first trailer.

A step above the sought-after Maltese Falcon and the fabled Ark of the Covenant, Dorothy Gale’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz have to be the single most vital prop in cinematic history. The red-sequined shoes, so lusted after by the Wicked Witch of the West in the immortal 1939 fantasy film, have spent the last 30 years as one of the Smithsonian's most popular attractions. But not even magical footwear is immune to the ravages of time, and Judy Garland’s old kicks have lost a bit of their luster. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the iconic slippers have faded from their original Technicolor ruby to something closer to “a dull auburn.”

It’s taken far longer than a trip over the rainbow to finally get NBC Wizard of Oz reboot Emerald City clicking its heels, but even without a formal premiere date, the first official photos of the Tarsem Singh-directed series have arrived. Meet your post-apocalyptic Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow and even one fabulous-looking witch in a first look at Emerald City!

Forget 'The Wizard of Oz,' we're closer to the 'Wizard of Oy,' at this point. Following NBC's announcement to develop a 'Game of Thrones'-style take on the L. Frank Baum mythology titled 'Emerald City,' which itself followed CBS modern medical drama 'Dorothy,' The CW has thrown their hat onto the yellow brick road in developing a "what if" take on the classic tale, titled 'Dorothy Must D

Iconic cinema classic 'The Wizard of Oz' has spawned numerous TV attempts, everything from the Sci-Fi channel's 'Tin Man,' to Syfy's 'Warriors of Oz,' to a 'Game of Thrones'-style 'Red Brick Road' and even 'Once Upon A Time,' so what's next? Why, CBS medical drama 'Dorothy' of course! It makes perfect sense! Summon the TV-maker people, guys, we're serial!

The Syfy channel wants to get in on the recent resurgence of 'The Wizard of Oz'-related material with their own revised and rebooted Oz. The plan is to move the story to a post-apocalyptic future, and have 'Abraham LIncoln: Vampire Hunter' director Timur Bekmambetov at the helm of their version, which is titled 'Warriors of Oz.'

Warner Bros. made a couple of big announcements today -- first, they're releasing the largest Blu-ray/DVD collection ever with a 100 DVD/50 Blu-ray "Best Films from Warner Bros." set. But the bigger news is that they're also converting 'The Wizard of Oz' to 3D because it was bound to happen eventually.

One of the last surviving members of the Munchkin gang seen in the classic film ‘The Wizard of Oz’ has died. Karl Slover, who played several roles in the Judy Garland film, including the lead trumpeter, a soldier and a townsperson, died of cardiopulmonary arrest in Georgia on Tuesday. He was 93.

Of the 122 little people who portrayed Munchkins in the 1939 classic ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ four remain. And the folks over at BuzzFeed have tracked down “then and now” photos for each. Updated: Sadly, Karl Slover has passed away the age of 93.