Robert Downey, Jr. and Sam Mendes Off to See the Wizard?

Production Weekly tweets that yet another Wizard of Oz revival is in the works over at Disney, and the studio is eyeing some popular talent for the production. Apparently the incredibly busy Robert Downey, Jr. is wanted for the role of the Wizard, while Sam Mendes is also being asked to jump into the director's chair.

The news comes fresh off of the announcement that Bond 23 has been put on indefinite hold while MGM sorts out is financial troubles and finally sells itself off, which may have freed up the announced director, Sam Mendes' schedule for the next year or so, meaning that the director may indeed want to fill that time back up again.

However, that Disney would even fathom having Robert Downey, Jr. exhaust himself between Gravity, Sherlock Holmes 2, The Avengers, and maybe even Iron Man 3 to also play the lead role in a Wizard of Oz prequel is a bit of a stretch. Perhaps just wishful thinking on Disney's part. Who could blame them, though? He's been very popular ever since he revived his career in the original Iron Man film! Deservedly so, too.

Oh, yes, you heard right, by the way. It's a prequel. The new film will reportedly build off of the works of the books' author, L. Frank Baum, to tell the tale of a charlatan's journey into the Land of Oz, only to become the oft sought after Wizard.

The project is one of many Oz-based films coming out, with Warner Bros. gearing up two drastically different toned projects and Universal adapting Wicked to film.

Disney is hoping to build off of the recent hype of the wildly successful Alice in Wonderland, with its producer, Joe Roth, also set to produce this film, currently titled Oz the Great and Powerful.