The Wizard of Oz is to be remade and a "2007 wow factor" injected into the classic film.
The Warner Brothers remake will see the Munchkins go, Dorothy will be "sexed-up" and her dog Toto will become a warthog.
The film studio has joined forces with a comic book artist and writer Josh Olson, better known for his screenplay of a History of Violence. The new version was dreamt up by Todd McFarlane, a media entrepreneur who began his career on the Spider-Man Comic before moving on to his own anti-hero Spawn.
He told Variety magazine he intended to make the film darker with Dorothy "much closer to the Ripley from Alien than a helpless singing girl". A line of toys has already been produced featuring the new sexier Dorothy and Toto the warthog.
One of the main challenges producers face is casting an actress in a role that shot a young Judy Garland to fame in 1939.
"That's a very risky business, which is why so few people have ever sung Over the Rainbow for fear of comparison with Garland," said Stephen Prince, professor of film studies at Virginia Tech University.
The remake will not be the first attempt to bring the Wizard of Oz up to date.
In 1978 Diana Ross played Dorothy and Michael Jackson was Scarecrow in the Sidney Lumet directed The Wiz.
However critics described it as "horrifying and nightmare inducing".
