Daniel Radcliffe, star of the Harry Potter films, has shared details about a peculiar pitch he once received for a Wizard of Oz adaptation that would have reunited him with his co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. He bluntly called it 'one of the worst ideas I've ever heard.'
The concept involved the trio taking on roles in a new version of the classic tale, with Emma Watson set to play Dorothy, the young girl from Kansas. Radcliffe revealed this during an appearance on the Hot Ones show, explaining that the offer came while they were still filming the Harry Potter movies, when he was around 14 or 15 years old. Even at that age, he immediately recognized it as 'a bad idea.'
Radcliffe recounted, 'During Potter, somebody came to us and wanted to cast all three of us in a remake of Wizard of Oz. Emma was Dorothy, I can't remember what Rupert was, and I was going to be the lion, but also he knew karate? I was like a karate kicking cowardly lion.' He added, 'I remember I was like 14 or 15, and I was like, 'I don't know a lot about the world, but this is a bad idea, this should not be made.'
This timeline suggests the pitch occurred while filming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, meaning the actors would have been relatively young, though not far off from Judy Garland's age of 16 in the iconic 1939 adaptation.
Over the years, there have been many Wizard of Oz adaptations, including spin-offs, prequels, and sequels. Notable examples are the 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful, directed by Sam Raimi and starring James Franco, Michelle Williams, and Mila Kunis, as well as the upcoming two-part Wicked, featuring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
Earlier this week, Radcliffe also commented on HBO's new Harry Potter adaptation, urging that the new young cast be allowed to work without interference from the original film's actors, whom he described as potential 'spectral phantoms.' Perhaps it's best to avoid offering them a Wizard of Oz remake as well.
