Robert Downey Jr. Eyes Oz, with Script by David Lindsay-Abaire

Robert Downey Jr. is being sought to play the title wizard in director Sam Raimi’s forthcoming 3D feature film Oz: The Great and Powerful, according to Deadline.com. David Lindsay-Abaire, who most recently adapted his Pulitzer Prize-winning play Rabbit Hole for the big screen, has been tapped for what Deadline calls “rewrite duty” on the Oz script.

Raimi is the director of the first three Spider-Man feature films, as well as Darkman, two Evil Dead films and Drag Me to Hell. Lindsay-Abaire, who wrote the scripts for Robots and Inkheart in addition to his many plays and the libretto of Shrek, reportedly worked with Raimi on a screenplay for a fourth Spider-Man film that was eventually scrapped.

Oz will be based on the stories of L. Frank Baum, which are in the public domain. No timetable or casting has been set for Universal Pictures’ film adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical Wicked.