Disney announced today that director Sam Raimi's highly-anticpated fantastical feature film Oz The Great and Powerful has gone into production!  The film, which boasts an insanely talented cast that includes James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz and Zach Braff will be entirely shot at the brand-new Raleigh Studios in Pontiac, Michigan. 

According to the house of mouse's press release, Oz The Great and Powerful imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum’s beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot—fame and fortune are his for the taking—that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Kunis), Evanora (Weisz) and Glinda (Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting.

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Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity—and even a bit of wizardry—Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

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Braff will play double-duty in the upcoming film, taking on the role of Franco's circus assisant as well as lend his vocals to Finley, a CGI animated winged monkey who travels along with the magician.

Oz The Great and Powerful is set to hit theaters on March 8, 2013.

Photos Courtesy of Fame Pictures