Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss has joined the star-studded cast of SCI FI Channel's upcoming six-hour miniseries Tin Man (working title). He joins Zooey Deschanel and Alan Cumming in this wildly re-imagined fantasy take on Frank Baum's classic book, "The Wizard of Oz." Slated to begin production next month in Vancouver, the miniseries will premiere this December.

Dreyfuss will take on the role of the Mystic Man, a powerful wizard who holds the key to revealing the destiny of the one woman who can save The Outer Zone (the O.Z.) a fantastical realm rife with wonder, but oppressed by dark magic.

A sometimes psychedelic, often twisted and always outrageous take on the book, SCI FI's Tin Man follows DG on the adventure of a lifetime. Plunged headlong into another world, DG (Deschanel) must discover her true identity, battle evil winged-monkey-bats, and attempt to fulfill her destiny. Her perilous journey begins on the fabled Old Road that leads to a wizard known as the Mystic Man (Dreyfuss). Along the way, she is joined by a decidedly strange trio of companions "Glitch," (Cumming) an odd man missing half his brain; "Raw," a quietly powerful wolverine-like creature longing for inner courage, and "Cain," a heroic former policeman (known in the O.Z. as Tin Men, for their tin badges) seeking vengeance for his scarred heart. Ultimately, DG's destiny leads her to an emotional and terrifying showdown with the scintillatingly wicked sorceress Azkadellia, whose ties to DG are closer than anyone could have imagined. DG's life, as well as the very future of the O.Z., hangs in the balance.