Before Dorothy, Toto, the Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tinman could get what their heart most desired, there was a man named Oz.

Spider-Man director Sam Raimi will bring the colorful world to life in Oz: The Great and Powerful. Disney has released a teaser poster, a calm before the storm that will be the first trailer.

You can check out the first poster for the film below.

As you can see there are a lot of nods to the original The Wizard of Oz movie. There are tornadoes, a yellow brick road, and a very familiar castle that’s just beyond the horizon. But more importantly, we see Oz as he has somehow found his way to the mysterious and magical land.

Directed by Sam Raimi, Oz: The Great and Powerful stars James Franco as Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, who 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 (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting.

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.

Oz: The Great and Powerful will open in theaters on March 8th, 2013.

Poster

[Source: Disney]