After the raw sadness of Blue Valentine, the madness of Shutter Island and the tough, frontier existence in Meek’s Cutoff, no one would begrudge Michelle Williams for donning a sparkly gown and spreading magic in a fantasy world. And she’ll be doing just that, as she’s in talks to play Glinda the Good Witch in Sam Raimi’s Oz, the Great and Powerful.

James Franco is leading the cast as the dodgy salesman who escapes his latest conquest in a hot air balloon, only to be whipped away to the magical land of Oz. There, he meets three witches – Williams’ noble Glinda, Rachel Weisz' evil Evanora and Mila Kunis’ conflicted Theodora, who initially tries to do the right thing, but is tempted to the dark side by her sister when Franco spurns her romantic overtures.

With a script by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire (plus a few more uncredited scribblers), Raimi’s latest will serve as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, looking to explain the events that transpired before Dorothy showed up.

Filming kicks off this July in Michigan, and while there’s no set release date yet, you know Disney will want the thing in cinemas as soon as it can be delivered.