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Hollywood Flashback: ‘Return to Oz’ Had Trouble Going Home Again
The Hollywood ReporterStory by Ryan Gajewski
scrn logline
The troubled production of 'Return to Oz', a darker follow-up to the 1939 classic, reveals the high-stakes challenges of bringing Oz to the big screen.
beat sheet
- Director Walter Murch was fired by Disney after five weeks of filming due to the studio's dissatisfaction with the material and production delays, until George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Steven Spielberg intervened to get him reinstated.
- Despite its Oscar nomination for visual effects, 'Return to Oz' was a box office disappointment, grossing only $11 million, and marked Murch's first and last directorial effort.
call sheet
Walter Murch, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Fairuza Balk, Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Brian Henson, Deep Roy, Disney, MGM, Return to Oz, The Wizard of Oz, Apocalypse Now, THX 1138