| The Wizard of the Emerald City | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Igor Voloshin (ru) |
| Written by |
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| Based on |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Mikhail Milashin |
| Music by | Nikolay Rostov |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Central Partnership |
Release dates |
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Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
| Budget | ₽900 million |
| Box office | |
The Wizard of the Emerald City (Russian:Волшебник Изумрудного города. Дорога из жёлтого кирпича,lit. 'The Wizard of the Emerald City. The Yellow Brick Road', titled onscreen asThe Wizard of the Emerald City. Part I) is a 2024 Russianlive-action fairy talefantasy film directed by Igor Voloshin, produced byCentral Partnership in partnership with Petr Anurov's Kinoslovo company.[4]
The film is a screen adaptation of the 1939 children'snovel of the same name by theSoviet writer Alexander Melentyevich Volkov, based on a reworking of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novelThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Young stars Ekaterina Chervova in her first film role as Ellie Smith, along with her dog Totoshka. The film also starsYuri Kolokolnikov as the Tin Woodman, Yevgeny Chumak as the Scarecrow,Artur Vakha voiced the Cowardly Lion, who was completely computer-generated imagery, andSvetlana Khodchenkova as the evil sorceress Bastinda.
The Wizard of the Emerald City premiered at theKaro 11 October atArbat Square inMoscow on December 18, 2024,[5] and was theatrically released in Russia on January 1, 2025.[6] The film earned more than 3 billion rubles at the box office.
The sequel,The Wizard of the Emerald City. Part II, is scheduled for 2027.
The film tells the story of a girl named Ellie Smith, who lives in a distant city. Suddenly, an evil witch named Gingema conjured a hurricane that carried the girl and her dog to the land of Munchkins, where she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, with whom she must go to the Emerald City to find the Wizard who can fulfill their dreams.[7]
Voice cast
Other cast members
The production of the film began back in April 2022, when the project was presented to senior officials at theRussian Minister of Culture, with the aim of getting them interested in financing the film, and the project received government funding.
The filmThe Wizard of the Emerald City. The Yellow Brick Road is being carried out by four major Russian film companies:Nikita Mikhalkov's Studio TriTe, Kinoslovo, CGF (a visual effects studio) andCentral Partnership Productions (part ofGazprom-Media). The project is being implemented with the support of theRussian Cinema Fund.
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The director was also pleased with the choice of actors for the main roles. Young Ekaterina "Katya" Chervova, who portrayed Ellie Smith, in his opinion, did a great job. But, most importantly, she did not complain about the difficult filming, went through fire and water, but showed herself to be a talented and resilient actress.
TheJack Russell Terrier named Udzher easily found a common language with the girl. But his voice was "given" to him by Denis Vlasenko (the filmMatthew Passion).
One of the most difficult was the casting for the role of the Tin Woodman, but in the end the team decided to settle on the candidacy of Yuri Kolokolnikov. There were also difficulties with the Lion, but already of a technical nature: this character was created entirely with the help of computer technology. However, Artur Vakha conveyed his facial expressions, character and movements.
Principal photography started in June 2023 and ended in mid-July. The film crew carried out the shooting process in theRepublic of Dagestan, on the road fromMakhachkala toBuynaksk,Moscow and the region ofMoscow Oblast.
In Buynaksk, on the green plains of theBuynaksky District, Ellie and her friends were filming their way through apoppy field.
The premiere was scheduled for December 26, 2024, but was later postponed to January 1, 2025.
The Wizard of the Emerald City had its world premiere at their “Karo 11 October” cinema center onNew Arbat Avenue in Moscow on December 18, 2024, and was theatrically released byCentral Partnership in the Russian Federation on January 1, 2025.
The film received mixed reviews in the Russian press.[8]It was given restrained praise by the authors of the publicationsKinoPoisk ("The finale, flavored with a solid battle scene on a dilapidated bridge, is capable of touching even the most callous audience"),[9]Film.ru ("The infectious chemistry and organic charm of the quartet of friends and Ellie Smith become an antidote to boomer grumbling"), assessed skeptically by the publicationsKommersant ("Beautiful pictures replace each other on the screen, but the characters move from one to another completely mechanically"),Mir Fantastiki ("A film for viewers who are not too picky, for whom colorful pictures and a good message will be enough"), and was crushed by the publicationsGazeta.Ru ("Voloshin’s film naturally turns out to be an extremely boring spectacle. And what’s worse, it’s incredibly stuffy").
TheAfisha publication compared the film with another Russian fantasy film that came out during the same holidays,Finist. The First Warrior (2024), and chose Finist.[10]Both positive and negative reviews noted the high quality of the special effects, the fact that the film is intended exclusively for children, and often criticized the fact that only the first half of the book's plot was included in the film.
The premiere of the second part of the film, entitledThe Wizard of the Emerald City. The Wicked Witch (onscreen asThe Wizard of the Emerald City. Part II), will take place on January 1, 2027.
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