Universal's WICKED Films - News & Discussion Thread- Page 107

[MezzA101]

Posted: 1/9/25 at 5:12pm

‘Wicked’ Earns $70 Million in First Week of Digital Release

 

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/wicked-digital-sales-vod-record-70-million-1236271096/

[luvbrdway]

Posted: 1/10/25 at 12:56am

I went to a sing-a-long showing tonight. There were 10 looked like high school aged girls who not only sang along, but had practiced the choreography and filled the aisles during a few songs. It was really fun.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 1/12/25 at 12:48pm

In a new interview at Variety, Ariana Grande reveals how playing Glinda has changed her life and her longtime obsession with ''Wicked.''

Grande, who made her Broadway debut as Charlotte in Jason Robert Brown's ''13,'' wants to see more Broadway musicals on the big screen:

“I’d love to see ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ and ‘Spamalot’ as movies,” she says. She goes on to name “Next to Normal” and “Avenue Q,” the show that beat “Wicked” at the 2004 Tony Awards. ”But we need to update it a little bit.”

(Back in 2009, I had a brief celebrity brush with a 15-year-old Grande. I had invited Graham Phillips, the star of ''13,'' to sing at our ''Leading Men IV'' benefit for Broadway Cares at Birdland. The two of them were dating then, and I remember her hanging onto Phillips' arm for dear life. They were adorable, and we even took a backstage photo. I couldn't never guessed Grande would become a pop star and now an Oscar contender for ''Wicked.'' Brava!)

https://variety.com/2025/film/awards/ariana-grande-wicked-2-original-song-eternal-sunshine-deluxe-release-1236271770/

Updated On: 1/12/25 at 12:48 PM

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 1/12/25 at 1:26pm

A Drowsy movie sounds awful. 

[Globefan]

Posted: 1/12/25 at 4:34pm

I'd love a remake of My Fair Lady with Ari as Eliza 

[BwayLB]

Posted: 1/13/25 at 3:00pm

How about if Ariana was cast as Sara Brown in that Guys & Dolls remake Rob Marshall is trying to get off the ground.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 1/18/25 at 2:39am

I was an original naysayer for this movie. It bothered me that it was being split into two films…and a year apart.

i finally watched it last night and, for the most part, i was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I have always had a chip on my shoulder when it comes to Cynthia Erivo…mostly from reading negative posts about her over the years on this board. After about 20 minutes, she sold me and I thought her performance was wonderful. Ariana Grande was really good, too.

The film was visually spectacular…almost too much so for me. It was so scrubbed and polished to a somewhat sterile sheen that it bothered me. However, nitpicking aside, I will admit I was wrong about this film. It’s an amazing achievement and I look forward to Part 2.

[binau]

Posted: 1/18/25 at 3:54am

Maybe it goes deeper than this but my understanding RE: Cynthia Erivo backlash is it's more to do with her aggressive online personality, I don't think many people can deny her talent? I always think best to separate the artist from the person. 

Updated On: 1/18/25 at 03:54 AM

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 1/18/25 at 7:53am

binau said: "Maybe it goes deeper than this but my understanding RE: Cynthia Erivo backlash is it's more to do with her aggressive online personality, I don't think many people can deny her talent? I always think best to separate the artist from the person."

Hard to forget her effort in closing Comet.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 9:06am

Great day for Wicked fans! 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress.

[JP2]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 9:06am

Wicked earned 10 Academy Award Nominations including Best Actress (Cynthia Erivo), Best Supporting Actress (Ariana Grande), and Best Picture.

It also gets a nom for Production Design, Costumes, Editing, and Score (this one is a lovely surprise).

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 9:26am

I’m just so thrilled that a musical film in 2024(5) can make nearly $900 million worldwide and also get nominated for 10 Academy Awards. Certainly something to celebrate; it could have gone totally different as we’ve seen from several other adaptions in the last decade or so. 

[Musical Master]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 10:16am

Big congrats to the cast and crew for Wicked with its 10 Oscar nominations! Best Score was a pleasant surprise and one where it makes sense for it being nominated. It's so refreshing to see a film adaptation of a Broadway musical to be a box office hit and an awards darling at the same time. The last time that this happened to my knowledge was Chicago.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 10:30am

I’m so happy right now. I love Wicked more than any other film this past year. Alongside Transformers One and Sonic The Hedgehog 3. Other than that, pure cinema is a vanishing breed.

[bryan2]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 10:59am

Not being nominated for best director is ridiculous. 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 5:51pm

BwayLB said: "I’m so happy right now. I love Wicked more than any other film this past year. Alongside Transformers One and Sonic The Hedgehog 3. Other than that, pure cinema is a vanishing breed."

You think Transformers One and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 are “pure cinema” (whatever that means) ??

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 6:07pm

From Clayton Davis in Variety on why ''Wicked'' was able to score an Oscar nomination for its music: 

Some on social media have wondered how the adaptation of the Broadway musical “Wicked” was eligible for original score, especially considering the controversy of Hans Zimmer’s “Dune: Part Two” being deemed ineligible.

The Academy’s rules stipulate that a score must comprise at least 35% of the film’s total music. With “Wicked” clocking in at 160 minutes, it required 56 minutes of original music. The film’s 11 songs total approximately 54 minutes, leaving plenty of room for Stephen Schwartz and John Powell’s score to qualify and make a lasting impression.

Also, I’m sure ... Schwartz’s nine prior Oscar nominations and three wins also played a role in swaying voters.

Updated On: 1/23/25 at 06:07 PM

[BwayLB]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 8:28pm

I think Idina Menzel should be the Narrator in that Joseph movie Jon M Chu and Andrew Lloyd Webber are trying to get off the ground.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 9:42pm

BwayLB said: "I think Idina Menzel should be the Narrator in that Joseph movie Jon M Chu and Andrew Lloyd Webber are trying to get off the ground."

You don’t want her in Sonic the Hedgehog 4?

[Voter]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 9:47pm

Another joke of a group of Oscar nominees. Wicked is literally a Marvel movie with music. No Chu wasn't snubbed, the award is for best direction, not most direction. His conception of this was exhaustingly restless and endlessly slow. I like Erivo, but she forgets how to act anytime the song intros end and they pick up in tempo. Grande is doing a Chenoweth impersonation, except she sounds like **** on the high operatic notes. 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 10:54pm

Voter said: "Another joke of a group of Oscar nominees. Wickedis literally a Marvel movie with music. No Chu wasn't snubbed, the award is for best direction, not most direction. His conceptionofthis was exhaustingly restless and endlessly slow. I like Erivo, but she forgets how to act anytime the song intros end andthey pickup in tempo. Grande is doing a Chenoweth impersonation, except she sounds like **** on the high operatic notes."

Okay Oscar Expert - Take away all the nominations that offend your little soul and tell us who you would have nominated instead. Be specific.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 11:23pm

Jon M. Chu definitely deserved an Oscar nomination for directing ''Wicked.'' Making a movie musical requires such a high degree of difficulty because it involves so many moving parts: acting, singing, dancing, etc. Today, ''Wicked'' earned 10 Oscar nominations (tying with ''The Brutalist'', and it's a shame Chu didn't get the credit he deserved for coordinating all of its elements. And what's more, it's a gigantic ''Popular'' hit, grossing over $700 million worldwide, and has become the highest-grossing movie ever based on a Broadway musical. Contrast that to the not-too-distant, big-screen musical flops of ''Cats,'' ''Dear Evan Hansen'' and even Chu's own ''In the Heights.'' 

Chu's achievement is singular, unique. Imagine if the various directors who WERE Oscar-nominated today, had to switch assignments. I'm pretty sure that Chu could've very capably directed a comedy like ''Anora'' or a drama like ''The Brutalist,'' but I bet that Sean Baker and Brady Corbet couldn't have pulled off a blockbuster musical like ''Wicked.''

Maybe the Academy's snobby directors branch will reward Chu with a nomination after ''Wicked 2,'' but I'm not holding my breath. Denis Villeneuve directed ''Dune: Part 1,'' which received 10 Oscar nominations and WON 6 prizes, but they snubbed him for Best Director. And ''Dune: Part 2,'' which was critically acclaimed and grossed over $700 million,  also was a Best Picture nominee, but they snubbed him again!

Updated On: 1/23/25 at 11:23 PM

[Voter]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 1:32am

Matt Rogers, you're unnecessarily rude. And me naming movies doesn't add anything to this.

 

Wicked was overwhelmingly busy and ugly for it. Not to mention the film getting nominated for VFX. It's impressive Chu can put all this together, but it doesn't make it good. 

[BwayLB]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 2:06am

Kad said: "BwayLB said: "I think Idina Menzel should be the Narrator in that Joseph movie Jon M Chu and Andrew Lloyd Webber are trying to get off the ground."

You don’t want her in Sonic the Hedgehog 4?"

I know she and James Marsden played Nancy & Edward together twice. But what’s the point in that?

[Seb28]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 7:16am

BwayLB said: "I think Idina Menzel should be the Narrator in that Joseph movie Jon M Chu and Andrew Lloyd Webber are trying to get off the ground."

"We all Ndream a laat, some are Nlucky, some are Lnaat"