Sam Raimi, director of cult horror comedy The Evil Dead series and Spider-Man trilogy, loves the movie The Wizard of Oz so much that he has directed a film about it.

Oz the Great and Powerful, to be released on the mainland on March 29, is Raimi's cinematic prequel to the 1939 tale loved by both adults and children.

"I've always loved emotional movies that have an effect of uplifting the audience, making them feel positive and giving them energy," he says in Beijing recently.