‘Emerald City’ series depicts a darker, edgier Oz

By now everyone’s familiar with the trend: take a popular fairytale or children’s novel, turn it into something gritty, erotic, and utterly unrecognizable, and voila, you’ve got the modern retelling of a beloved classic.

The latest fantasy to undergo this treatment is the “Oz” book series, which has now been adapted into a NBC TV show called “Emerald City.”

From the trailer, it’s clear this isn’t the “Wizard of Oz” we grew up with. For starters, Dorothy Gale is now a 20-year-old living in modern times. Toto is an enormous German Shepherd who might not even be her pet, but a police dog that belongs to the unfortunate officer who gets ripped to shreds by a tornado.

The tornado whisks Dorothy and Toto to a strange land populated by witches, warriors who look they just came from the set of History Channel’s “Vikings,” and lots and lots of bearded nobles who are obviously into all things political and backstabby. Because everything has to be inspired by “Game of Thrones” these days.

We’re not sure if the sexy crucified man is the Scarecrow. But if he is, then Dorothy falls for a hot dude with no brain.

In “Emerald City,” the Wizard is played by Vincent D’Onofrio (who is excellent as the Kingpin in Netflix’s “Daredevil”). Other stars include Adria Arjona as Dorothy, Ana Ularu as the Wicked Witch of the West, Florence Kasumba as the Wicked Witch of the East, and Joely Richardson as Glinda the Good Witch of the South.

Serving as executive producers are Matthew Arnold, Shaun Cassidy, Josh Friedman, and David Schulner. The director is Tarsem Singh Dhandwar (2011’s “Immortals” and 2012’s “Mirror Mirror”).

Published in 1900 and originally called “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” “The Wizard of Oz” is the first entry in the 14-book “Oz” series written by L. Frank Baum.
 
“Emerald City” will debut on January 6, 2017. — BM, GMA News