Warner Bros. has announced a $25 million promotional campaign for The Wizard of Oz, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The campaign will include a new McDonald’s Happy Meal collection, the IMAX rerelease and home entertainment and consumer products.
The studio is teaming with McDonald’s for a set of limited edition Wizard of Oz toys in Happy Meals in more than 14,000 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada from Sept. 20 through Oct. 10.
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There will be six figurines available, including Dorothy, Scarecrow, Wicked Witch of the West, Tin Man, Glinda the Good Witch and Cowardly Lion. Each character stands on a portion of the yellow brick road, which can be linked to create one long road.
Additionally, the Judy Garland classic will have its 3D IMAX world premiere at the new TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX — the largest IMAX auditorium in the world — in Hollywood on Sept. 15. The film will have a one-week special engagement at the new theater, which is the same location where the film premiered in 1939 (at the time it was called Grauman’s Chinese Theatre). The 3D rerelease will be shown at more than 300 IMAX theaters across North America beginning Sept. 20.
At the Toronto International Film Festival, The Wizard of Oz in IMAX 3D will screen on the closing day of the festival Sept. 15.
Following the rerelease, The Wizard of Oz 75th Anniversary Collector’s Edition DVD set, which will consist of a five-disc set including Blu-ray, will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Oct. 1.
The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, based on the 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, starred Garland as the young woman who is whisked off to a fantasy world to face a wicked witch. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture.
