You might know Justin Simien, the American filmmaker behind “Dear White People” (the movie and the series) and Disney’s latest “Haunted Mansion”.
As “Haunted Mansion” is coming out today (for the US), Simien has been doing interviews to promote the movie.
During an interview at San Diego Comic-Con, he was asked what will be his next project and he answered: “a revival of ‘The Wiz'”.
He revealed it was “the first movie I ever saw,” and adding that when he did eventually see the Judy Garland-led The Wizard of Oz, he was baffled why they would make “a white version of the Wiz.”
Sharing that he already has big ideas for his hopeful reboot, Simien went on to say that there’s so much that can be done with what he refers to as “a really disturbing movie to watch as an adult,” telling audiences to watch out for the parts in Emerald City as “Y’all ain’t ready for what I’ve got prepared.”
If Simien were to come through with a reboot of The Wiz, it wouldn’t be the first time the story has been given a second go-around since its days led by Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
Simien also said that his version would have music by Quincy Jones and not the Broadway’s music scored by Charlie Smalls.
“I want to make The Wiz so bad. Oh my God, I want to make it so bad. The Wiz was the first movie I ever saw, so by the time I saw The Wizard of Oz, I didn’t understand why they made a white version of The Wiz. So my vision of the film was a Black-centric universe with Quincy Jones music. It’s a really disturbing movie to watch as an adult, but that’s one I’d love to do. That Emerald City sequence? Y’all ain’t ready for what I’ve got prepared.”
If Simien were to come through with a reboot of The Wiz, it wouldn’t be the first time the story has been given a second go-around since its days led by Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. In 2015, NBC added it to the network’s slate of live performances in a special titled, The Wiz Live! The cast featured huge names of the day including Uzo Aduba, Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, and Common, and brought in viewers by the droves.
While nothing has been confirmed, started or signed of by any studios, it would be nice to have a reboot and give a chance to new generations to discover the 1978’s classic movie staring Michael Jackson.
