25 Great Movies That Flopped
6. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
“The Wizard of Oz” is still mesmerizing viewers today with its songs, visuals and message of friendship and loyalty.
Margaret Hamilton is the only onscreen villain that still manages to terrify us almost 80 years on. “The Wizard of Oz” is a film that Hollywood studios have toyed with remaking for many years.
The closest that audiences have come to revisiting that world has been a prequel called “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” which was directed by Sam Raimi of “Spider-man,” “The Evil Dead” and “Darkman” fame.
The 1939 version was actually the fourth version of the story to be shot for the big screen. A silent version was released in 1910 followed by two more attempts in 1925 and 1933.
However, the 1939 version starring Judy Garland is the most well-known and loved version. The film barely managed to recoup its $2.7 million budget and was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s biggest ever production at that time. The iconic tale of good and evil is based on the book entitled “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” written by L. Frank Baum in 1900.
