Wicked: Part One (2024)

[Joshua Clinard]

Title: Wicked

Tagline: The untold story of the witches of Oz.

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Director: Jon M. Chu

Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey

Release: 2024-12-25

Plot: Wicked tells the story of Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. The first of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.

I am so excited to see that the musical Wicked will finally be coming to theaters in a few years. I never got to see it on stage, but I always wanted too. I have read the books, memorized the soundtrack, and seen a recorded low definition of the Musical. I think it's a wonderful story, and can't wait to see it on the Big Screen! http://broadwayworld.com/article/WICKED-Film-to-Enter-Development-Soon-20121213

 

[Chris Will]

I saw this on stage with my wife almost 6 or 7 years ago in Tampa. It was a great show, we had a lot of fun. I'm actually surprised it has taken this long for a movie version to be made. My wife and I will most definitely be there day one to see it once it opens.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

I've seen the tour 3-4 times. The first time blew me away--you'll believe a witch can fly! I've also seen the low-def recording, it is pretty bad. I wish they would film the stage version with the original cast.

 

[David Norman]

I saw this on stage with my wife almost 6 or 7 years ago in Tampa. It was a great show, we had a lot of fun. I'm actually surprised it has taken this long for a movie version to be made. My wife and I will most definitely be there day one to see it once it opens.

Interesting., I surprised my Wife at Christmas with tickets to Wicked in Match 2007 in Tampa -- we were at Disney for Spring Break so it was an easy trip. She had read the book and she/kids had been listening to the soundtrack non-stop for about a year. We also went back a couple years ago when it was more local

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I would love to see a filmed performance (of a full staging) on Great Performances. Or at least have the traveling production come through this area when it's convenient for me to attend.

 

[Stan]

My only exposure to Wicked have been episodes of Glee. Then I did a little research on Idina Menzel and was astonished by her vocals and performances. Don't know if she'll be part of this, but really looking forward to it.

 

[mattCR]

The book and the play, to me, are so wildly structurally different I have a hard time relating the first time I saw the play I thought it was kind of a let down.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

After the huge opening for the James Franco "Oz" prequel, greenlighting this was a no-brainer. I hope that Universal teams up with Warner Bros, though, so that they can use all of the copyrighted "Wizard of Oz" imagery that the Disney prequel didn't have access to.

 

[Alex...]

Update:

 

[Mike Frezon]

This is going to make a LOT of people happy.

 

[KPmusmag]

I don't get it. The stage show runs 2 hrs 45 mins. All of the Lord of the Rings movies are longer than that. People can sit still that long for a good movie. So they are going to split Wicked into two movies a year apart? Ugh.

 

[TravisR]

Based on the financial success of In The Heights and West Side Story, making one musical- let alone two- seems risky to me.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Based on the financial success of In The Heights and West Side Story, making one musical- let alone two- seems risky to me.

For every In the Heights or West Side Story, you also have a Mamma Mia! or Les Miserables or Into the Woods or La La Land or The Greatest Showman or most recently Encanto that caught on with audiences. Like any other genre, musicals work when the audience is engaged and wants to see the movie. They don't often get the same credit as other types of films do, though. Every time one doesn't work people are writing the obituary for the entire genre.

Wicked is a not for me. I do not like it and I have no intention of seeing the films. But it is a huge property that has been making money on Broadway since 2003. So I understand why Universal wants to take that bet. Cutting the narrative in half seems odd, though, and much riskier. If the first one underperforms, they would essentially be stuck with the second one. I'm also not really sure how you take a two and a half hour with intermission stage musical and get two films out of it.

On the other hand, Jon M. Chu has demonstrated his ability to make a great musical with In the Heights, though, which was one of my favorite films of last year. It was also the first one I went back to the theater to see during the pandemic. So maybe it will turn out well for the fans of the material. Box office aside, he certainly got In the Heights right.

 

[TravisR]

For every In the Heights or West Side Story, you also have a Mamma Mia! or Les Miserables or Into the Woods or La La Land or The Greatest Showman or most recently Encanto that caught on with audiences.

Solid point but doing two movies like it's a Marvel movie still seems like an expensive gamble to me. Then again, I thought Titanic was a gamble and that worked out well so what do I know?

 

[Tino]

Wicked was terrific entertainment Imo and I am Looking forward to this tremendously. One of the best Broadway shows I have ever seen. Amazing. If the films are half as entertaining they will be blockbusters!

 

[Jake Lipson]

Solid point but doing two movies like it's a Marvel movie still seems like an expensive gamble to me.

I agree with that. Usually, when we're talking about two-part films, they are connected to long-running franchises, such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows or Mockingjay or the third and fourth Avengers films. In those cases, the studios have reason to expect that the move will pay off because of the sheer size of repeated success incurred by the previous films. Wicked has no previous films so there is less certainty as to how it will perform.

That being said, from a creative standpoint, Jon M. Chu got almost everything right with In the Heights. So who knows? Maybe his instincts for Wicked will prove right as well.

 

[KPmusmag]

Higgins takes Eliza to the ball and --- see you in a year! Maria leaves to go back to the abbey --- see you in a year! Riff and Bernardo are dead --- see you in a year!

 

[Jake Lipson]

You're not wrong @KPmusmag.

 

[TJPC]

What about splitting the musical into two movies and release both at the same time, or a week or 2 later? You could see the first and if you love it, wait only a couple of weeks and see the second, or perhaps have “event” showings where both parts are shown in one night at “premium prices”

 

[Jake Lipson]

What about splitting the musical into two movies and release both at the same time, or a week or 2 later?

That would have the impact of causing the movies to effectively compete with each other for screens and box office dollars, which would not be wise.

I think it is much more likely that the first part of Wicked could have encore screenings in December 2025 to lead into the opening shows of the sequel for those devoted fans who want to see both at once. But I don't see this being a practical release strategy for the initial run of both films.

Also, even if they shoot both films at once, I don't think they'll finish both of them at once. This buys them time to do special effects work and other assorted post-production of part two throughout 2025. I really don't think they're going to just sit on a totally completed second film for a year. They'll be working on the second film after the first one is released.

The closest historical precedent a shortened release model like what you are describing would be when the Star Wars special editions came out in 1997 over a course of three months. But those were re-releases of films that had already made tons of money and were coming out in January to March, when competition was less. That's not going to be practical to do around Christmas, when there are always lots of movies competing for attention and screens.