(Cover) - EN Movies - James Franco is glad he has a great deal of "freedom" to explore his character in Oz: The Great and Powerful.

The 33-year-old Hollywood actor portrays title character Oz in the picture, which is scheduled for release in 2013 and also features performances from Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams.

The movie will be a prequel to children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which was written in 1900 by L. Frank Baum.

The film will tell the story of how the Wizard of Oz became a ruler, and James admits taking on such an iconic story is nerve-wracking. However, he feels lucky that he's been allowed to bring his own ideas to the table.

"There are no real expectations of how the younger version of Oz should be," he mused.

"I do follow a tradition, but I also have a certain amount of freedom to create the character."

James has been busy working on the movie, which is currently filming. He teased fans that they will have some treats in store when it comes to his character's costumes.

"The original book came out in 1900," he told Access Hollywood.

"A lot of it will kind of take place 100 years ago, so if you can imagine that kind of suit." (C) Cover Media