Audiences will be heading back to Emerald City in the new year with the March 2013 release of Oz: The Great and Powerful.

From Spider-man director Sam Raimi, the upcoming Disney release acts as a prequel to the 1939 Judy Garland classic, The Wizard of Oz. The film, which stars James Franco as Oz, chronicles the great wizard’s misadventures on his journey to becoming an all-powerful ruler.

Franco has not one, but three, leading ladies sharing the screen with him: Michelle Williams as the “good witch” Glinda, Rachel Weisz as Evanora and Mila Kunis as Theodora.

Like its predecessor, the movie is filmed partially in black and white and, from the looks of the first official trailer, the cinematography is gorgeous. If this poster is any indication, it could potentially be one of the most visually spectacular movies of the year.

While the trailer suggests the movie may be a little frightening for the kidlets, it looks like promising family entertainment for parents of tweens and teens.

What do you think of the trailer?