The Wiz/Trivia


 * All-Star Cast: The movie version.
 * Genre Killer: According to the Medved Brothers' Hollywood Hall of Shame book, the movie's box-office performance directly led to the cancellation of several major-studio projects that would have had predominantly black casts. Well into the 1980s, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy would be the only black leads that were reliable box-office performers, and that was largely via Uncle Tomfoolery and Salt and Pepper pairings.
 * Star-Derailing Role: Diana Ross. She landed the starring role despite several early refusals from the film's crew due to her age at the time of production, forcing several changes to the script to accommodate Ross' older version of Dorothy. All of this, combined with the negative critical reaction of her overall performance ultimately prompted Ross to stick to singing instead of acting.
 * Unintentional Period Piece: On top of being a product of a time when Blaxploitation films were popular in the U.S., the film has an unmistakable 1970s feel throughout, from its tone, to the fashions, to the disco and funk-heavy soundtrack, among other things.