Nearly a decade after the project first went belly up, Drew Barrymore is said to be taking another shot at bringing a "Wizard of Oz" sequel to the big screen.
"Surrender Dorothy," from a script by Zach Helm ("Stranger Than Fiction"), was originally supposed to star Barrymore as the Dorothy's great-great-granddaughter.
Robert Kosberg ("12 Monkeys"), who was set to produce the film as far back as 1999, said the movie asks the question (from EW by way of /Film), ”What if the Witch didn’t die? What if it was all an act? And now it’s the year 2000 and the Wicked Witch is still alive and well and mean and green and she’s broken out of Oz Jail and she’s on her way to New York to get those damn red slippers once and for all.”
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Barrymore is now planning to direct "Surrender," but seeing as she's getting on in age -- she's 35, for God's sake! -- there's speculation that she'll look to cast another actress in the lead. The folks at Pajiba, who broke the story, gleefully kicked off the speculation by lobbying for Ellen Page, Barrymore's "Make-out partner" and the star of her directorial debut, "Whip It."
As bad as a lot of Barrymore's romcom schlockfests have been, it's awfully hard not to like her, and Page seems like a good fit for the role.
Barrymore's next film is "Going the Distance," due out Aug. 27, co-starring Justin "I'm a Mac" Long, about a couple bumping up against the realities of a long-distance romance. Page can next be seen in Chris Nolan's hotly anticipated "Inception," starring Leonard DiCaprio, out July 16.