Celebs

Kenya Barris Confirms That Upcoming ‘Wizard Of Oz’ Remake Will Include LGBTQ+ Characters That “Reflect The World”

<p data-pm-slice&equals;"1 1 &lbrack;&rsqb;">Last month social media went into a frenzy when it was announced that &OpenCurlyQuote;Black-ish’ creator <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;blackish-creator-kenya-barris-to-write-and-direct-an-updated-version-of-the-wizard-of-oz&sol;">Kenya Barris<&sol;a> was picked to direct an upcoming remake of the classic fantasy film &OpenCurlyQuote;The Wizard Of Oz&comma;’ and now he has revealed a little insight into what fans can expect&period; During an exclusive interview&comma; Kenya Barris confirmed that his version of &OpenCurlyQuote;The Wizard Of Oz’ will feature LGBTQ&plus; characters that &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;reflect the world&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Somewhere over the rainbow is about to take on a whole new meaning&comma; as Kenya Barris has detailed his plans for <u><a class&equals;"ProsemirrorEditor-link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;variety&period;com&sol;2022&sol;film&sol;columns&sol;kenya-barris-wizard-of-oz-lgbtq-1235378308&sol;">modern representation<&sol;a><&sol;u> in his upcoming remake of the 1939 Hollywood classic&comma; &OpenCurlyQuote;The Wizard Of Oz&period;’ &commat;Variety exclusively reports&comma; Barris explained that in an effort to tell the story of the iconic film in a modern era&comma; it’s important to include LGBTQ&plus; characters who were absent in the original&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The original was an allegory and a reflection of the way the world was at the time with things like the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl&comma;” Barris said<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He continued&comma; adding &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Now we’re going to turn a mirror on where we’re at right now and take disparate characters from the LGBTQ community&comma; from different cultural communities and socioeconomic communities&comma; and tell a story that reflects the world&period; I think this is the best time to do that&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Noting that directing a film that is so treasured among movie fans is a tough task that comes with loads of pressure &lpar;and likely intense criticism&comma;&rpar; Kenya Barris admitted his nerves&period; He stated&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I’m nervous&period; Hopefully&comma; my movie can last as long as the original does&period; Hopefully&comma; my movie comes out&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As we previously reported&comma; back in August Kenya Barris was officially confirmed to both write and direct a reimagining of the enduring fantasy classic&comma; &OpenCurlyQuote;The Wizard Of Oz&comma;’ through his Khalabo Ink Society production company&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Throughout the years there have been multiple retellings of the story&comma; with the one most notable to the Black community being the 1978 version &OpenCurlyQuote;The Wiz&comma;’ starring icons Diana Ross and Michael Jackson&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"wpra-reactions-wrap wpra-plugin-container" style&equals;"justify-content&colon; center&semi;&semi;"> <div class&equals;"wpra-reactions-container" data-ver&equals;"1&period;3&period;10" data-post&lowbar;id&equals;"98619" data-show&lowbar;count&equals;"true" data-enable&lowbar;share&equals;"onclick" data-behavior&equals;"regular" data-animation&equals;"true" data-share&lowbar;url&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;kenya-barris-confirms-that-upcoming-wizard-of-oz-remake-will-include-lgbtq-characters-that-reflect-the-world&sol;" data-secure&equals;"2a1d850594"> <div class&equals;"wpra-call-to-action" style&equals;"color&colon; 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Danielle Jennings

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