McGee will write the script for the first film and an outline for its two sequels, which will conclude with the land of Oz returned to its condition as fans of the book and the popular MGM movie know it. While this will be McGee's first commissioned Hollywood script, he's very familiar with the material. He and writer Camden Joy already have completed a generously illustrated 500-page novelization of the game, which Warner Books is on board to publish.

"People always talk about games being nonlinear, but a video game story does follow a linear structure, it's just broken into 40 acts instead of three," McGee said. "The nice thing about the Hollywood film style is that I can explore multiple character perspectives, whereas game stories are limited to one perspective for game play."

As part of the "Oz" activity, McGee's video game is being revived after Infogrames (now Atari) dropped its option during a cost-cutting sweep. McGee said a new line of "Oz" action figures also will be released next year through a new manufacturer, the original line from Milos Workshop having sold well with limited distribution