 Produced by Rob Cohen and directed by Sidney Lumet , The Wiz stars Diana Ross , Michael Jackson , Nipsey Russell , Ted Ross , Mabel King , Theresa Merritt , Thelma Carpenter , Lena Horne , and Richard Pryor . The film 's story was reworked from William F. Brown 's Broadway libretto by Joel Schumacher , and Quincy Jones supervised the adaptation of Charlie Smalls and Luther Vandross 's songs for film . A handful of new songs , written by Jones and the songwriting team of Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson , were added for the film version . Upon its original theatrical release , The Wiz was a critical and commercial failure , and marked the end of the resurgence of African @-@ American films that began with the blaxploitation movement of the early 1970s . Despite its initial failure , the film version of The Wiz became a cult classic , particularly among African @-@ American audiences , Oz enthusiasts , and fans of Michael Jackson . Certain aspects of this film adaptation influenced the The Wiz Live ! , a live television adaptation of the musical . 
