Universal's WICKED Films - News & Discussion Thread- Page 108

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 7:29am

Musical Master said: "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."

Even though it's divisive, Les Misérables was as well.

 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 7:44am

bryan2 said: "Not being nominated for Best Director is ridiculous."

I'm not surprised. I might've previously mentioned it in this thread, so I apologize for repeating myself. When it comes to blockbuster hits, we've seen in the past that unless they happen to be a serious threat to win Best Picture, they're just never taken seriously by the directors branch. It's how James Cameron wins for Titanic, gets nominated for Avatar, but doesn't get nominated for Avatar: The Way of Water. It's how Greta Gerwig doesn't get nominated for Barbie. It's how Peter Jackson gets nominated for Fellowship of the Ring, snubbed for The Two Towers, but wins for Return of the King. It's how Christopher Nolan doesn't get nominated for Inception, but wins for Oppenheimer. It's how Steven Spielberg doesn't get nominated for Jaws. As the latter mentioned in this reaction video, "this is called commercial backlash. When a film makes a lot of money, people resent it. Everybody loves a winner, but nobody loves a winner."

 

[The Rural Juror]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 8:57am

I've gotta give major props to Cynthia and Ariana for this. The best case scenario for this film before it's release was that it was liked by fans and was financially successful. Given how pretty much every Broadway adaptation for the last decade or more has lost money, this would have been a fantastic result. And Oscar attention for the roles of Elphaba and Galinda? Forget about it. 

But boy did this movie defy all odds. Ariana went from a highly suspect casting choice, to being in high contention to win an Oscar! And Cynthia managed to make it in safely in a notoriously hard category for musical performances to get into. Their dedication and how seriously they took these roles has paid off big time for them. 

[BwayLB]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 9:05am

Seb28 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."

"Weall Ndream a laat, some are Nlucky,some areLnaat"

"

What’s that supposed to mean

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 9:08am

The Rural Juror said: "Ariana went from a highly suspect casting choice, to being in high contention to win an Oscar!"

With Grande losing the Globe (which she would've easily won like 10 years ago) and Emilia Pérez looking like a serious threat to win Best Picture, I have a hard time seeing Saldana lose at this point.

[JP2]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 9:38am

Just putting this out there for anyone who needs to hear it: your life will get so much better if you focus on what brings you joy instead of getting stuck on what makes you miserable.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 9:45am

There are ten Best Picture nominees and 5 Best Director nominees. People are gonna be left out, that’s just how it is. Chu has consistently never been considered a strong contender for this, for a number of reasons (many of which have nothing to do with the quality of his work). 

[JP2]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 11:08am

Kad said: "There are ten Best Picture nominees and 5 Best Director nominees. People are gonna be left out, that’s just how it is. Chu has consistentlynever been considered a strong contender for this, for a number of reasons (many of which have nothing to do with the quality of his work)."

I get your point, but the DGA is notoriously tough to break into. It took Christopher Nolan 20 years just to get a nomination. Given that the film scored 10 nominations, it’s hard to ignore how someone like Chu got snubbed, especially when directors like Jacques Audiard get a nod.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 11:41am

Do we think we'll get another "first look" trailer for FOR GOOD during either the Super Bowl again? Or during the Oscars?

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 12:11pm

''Wicked'' began its awards season on a promising note: The National Board of Review, the country's oldest film awards (dating back to 1930), on Dec. 4 named ''Wicked'' the year's Best Film. Plus, they awarded Best Director to Jon M. Chu (acceptance speech, below) and even gave an NBR Spotlight Award to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande for their ''creative collaboration'' on the movie. 

But let's hope the NBR awards aren't the biggest jinx. Besides honoring Chu, they named Daniel Craig (''Queer'') as Best Actor, Nicole Kidman (''Babygirl'') as Best Actress, Elle Fanning (''A Complete Unknown'') as Supporting Actress and Mike Leigh (''Hard Truths'') for Original Screenplay - none of whom received Oscar nominations yesterday!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4kiI8RGimo

[joevitus]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 1:03pm

Kinda surprised there weren't a flurry of posts when Wicked lost everything at the Golden Globes except box office. Considering that the Globes are often looked to as a prediciton of the Oscars, I'd have thought there would be more fuss.

[The Rural Juror]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 1:09pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "With Grande losing the Globe (which she would've easily won like 10 years ago) and Emilia Pérez looking like a serious threat to win Best Picture, I have a hard time seeing Saldana loseat this point."

Regardless of if she loses every award going forward (and she might), she is absolutely in the Top 2 for the Oscar. Her and Saldana are the only actresses to hit every precursor award. I think that qualifies her as "potentially winning" even if that isn't the final result. The point stands that I don't think a single person would have guessed she would be nominated, let alone come close to winning, an Oscar when she was announced to play the role. 

 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 1:37pm

WiCkEDrOcKS said: "Do we think we'll get another "first look" trailer for FOR GOOD during either the Super Bowl again? Or duringthe Oscars?”

If I remember correctly, Ariana addressed this to a reporter and said they won’t be showing a trailer during the Super Bowl as they want a longer break between one film’s release and another’s promotion. It may have been Jon, but I’m pretty sure I recall the video being of Ariana saying this.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 1:47pm

^ I was hoping they’ll make another Super Bowl appearance. Cynthia and Ariana I mean. But as long as they are focused on award season, that won’t be serious.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 3:48pm

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "WiCkEDrOcKS said: "Do we think we'll get another "first look" trailer for FOR GOOD during either the Super Bowl again? Or duringthe Oscars?”

If I remember correctly, Ariana addressed this to a reporter and said they won’t be showing a trailer during the Super Bowl as they want a longer break between one film’s release and another’s promotion. It may have been Jon, but I’m pretty sure I recall the video being of Ariana saying this."

Interesting...

I mean - they've got less than a year until Part Two is released and you'd think they'd want to ride the wave of buzz/momentum generated by Part One. The really huge marketing push for Part One didn't start until well after the first Super Bowl teaser dropped, anyway.  

Ultimately, it won't matter and Part Two will be another box office success - just seems like an odd approach for them not to mimic the (insanely successful) model that worked for Part One. 

Considering the SB is about two weeks away and the Academy Awards telecast is a little over a month away, maybe they'll opt for a FOR GOOD teaser to drop during the Oscars ceremony this time.

Updated On: 1/24/25 at 03:48 PM

[Theatre Fan3]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 3:56pm

WiCkEDrOcKS said: "GiantsInTheSky2 said: "WiCkEDrOcKS said: "Do we think we'll get another "first look" trailer for FOR GOOD during either the Super Bowl again? Or duringthe Oscars?”

If I remember correctly, Ariana addressed this to a reporter and said they won’t be showing a trailer during the Super Bowl as they want a longer break between one film’s release and another’s promotion. It may have been Jon, but I’m pretty sure I recall the video being of Ariana saying this."

Interesting...

I mean - they've got less than a year until Part Two is releasedand you'd think they'd want to ride the wave of buzz of Part Oneto keep momentum. The really huge marketing push for Part One didn't start until well after the first Super Bowl teaser dropped, anyway.

Ultimately, it won't matter and Part Two will be another box office success - just seems like an odd approach for them not to mimic the (insanely successful) model that worked for Part One.

"

Remember when they dropped that first teaser at the Super Bowl for Part 1 we hadn't seen any actual footage from the film.  This time around they might view the release of Part 1 as a "2 hr and 40 min Teaser" for Part 2 so no need to release anything else until the big marketing campaign kicks into full gear later this summer.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 4:04pm

Not a huge deal, but looking at Redwood's performance schedule it seems unlikely Idina Menzel will make a Wicked related appearance at the Oscars.

[degrassifan]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 8:37pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "The Rural Juror said: "Ariana went from a highly suspect casting choice, to being in high contention to win an Oscar!"

With Grande losing the Globe (which she would've easily won like 10 years ago) and Emilia Pérez looking like a serious threat to win Best Picture, I have a hard time seeing Saldana loseat this point."

Jeffrey, no offense, but you stay being proven wrong. You did not think West Side Story would be Oscar-nominated, and then it was. Then you swore up and down the Academy would not be kind to Wicked, and now it has been nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. Now you're saying Emilia Perez is the serious threat? You always want to be the contrarian with movie musicals and the Oscars. I don't even like her like that, but I hope Ariana wins just to prove the haters wrong. She's clearly top 2. Also, the Academy is not the Hollywood Foreign Press. 

Jon M. Chu was robbed though. I think he deserved a Best Director nom. The amount of hard work, love, and passion he put into the project was immeasurable. Maybe next year. 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 9:55pm

degrassifan said: "Jeffrey Karasarides said: "The Rural Juror said: "Ariana went from a highly suspect casting choice, to being in high contention to win an Oscar!"

With Grande losing the Globe (which she would've easily won like 10 years ago) and Emilia Pérez looking like a serious threat to win Best Picture, I have a hard time seeing Saldana lose at this point."

Jeffrey, no offense, but you stay being proven wrong. You did not think West Side Story would be Oscar-nominated, and then it was. Then you swore up and down the Academy would not be kind to Wicked, and now it has been nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. You always want to be the contrarian with movie musicals and the Oscars."

Well, when some were speculating if Mary Poppins Returns would land noms in above the line categories early on in 2018, I never once bought it would get in for Best Picture nor Best Actress one bit. I figured it would only show up in craft categories, and nothing else. Which was exactly what happened. Meanwhile, I last year actually expected The Color Purple to be a bigger contender than it ended up being. So I don't always doubt movie musicals at the Oscars. There've been times where I underestimated them (like WSS and Wicked) and other times where I overestimated them (like TCP and Nine). Although there were times where I knew from the beginning it'd be a contender (like Les Misérables) and other times where I knew from the get-go that they weren't going to be huge (like MPR and Into the Woods - both from Rob Marshall).

"Now you're saying Emilia Perez is the serious threat? I don't even like her like that, but I hope Ariana wins just to prove the haters wrong. She's clearly top 2. Also, the Academy is not the Hollywood Foreign Press."

Apparently, you don't know that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association dissolved on June 12th, 2023. Thus, the Globes are now presented by the Golden Globe Foundation. Sure, none of their voters overlap with the other awards groups. With that being said, Emilia Pérez pretty much got nominated for every category it needed to win Best Picture (directing, acting, writing, and editing). Wicked may have gotten in for acting and editing, but not directing nor writing. While we have seen films from the last 10 years still win Best Picture despite missing key categories, they were in situations where they only missed one. Birdman only missed editing, Green Book only missed directing, and Parasite only missed acting. Meanwhile, CODA missed directing and every single below-the-line category. Although in that film's case, it got the three nominations many expected it to get, and nothing else. Yet as the season went on and more voters started catching up with it, momentum really took off.

Plus, if Wicked were to actually win Best Picture, I think it'll more likely happen with For Good next year as the story will be completed on the big screen by then. After all, the Academy until Return of the King to award Lord of the Rings Best Picture.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 1/25/25 at 12:36am

''Kinda surprised there weren't a flurry of posts when Wicked lost everything at the Golden Globes except box office.''

Frankly, that wasn't a big surprise. ''Emilia Perez'' led the Golden Globe nominations with 10, and ''Wicked'' had only 4. As Jeffrey Karasarides noted, ''Wicked'' didn't get nominated for Director or Screenplay (or Score). And it didn't have any new songs eligible (where ''Emilia'' landed two nominations). So ''Emilia'' was the odds-on-favorite to win more awards. Pundits really only expected ''Wicked'' to win the ''Box Office Achievement'' award, clearly created as a consolation prize for the major studios & their giant hits.

This is a new Golden Globes. The old Hollywood Foreign Press is gone. In the old system, the Globes were voted on by about 100 journalists working in L.A. for their foreign publications back home. They had a reputation for being starf*ckers, and award-hungry stars and studios had to suck up to them. Now, the new voting body for the Globes has tripled in size to 300 members, including journalists from all over the world, writing in their own countries.

As a result, the tastes of the new Globes are now more international. The old Golden Globes would've picked Nicole Kidman, a 17-time Globe nominee, for Best Actress. But the new Globes chose Fernanda Torres, from Brazil's ''I'm Still Here.'' And, of course, no foreign film in the Globes' history ever came close to 10 nominations, like ''Emilia Perez.'' 

Update! Jon M. Chu reacts to ''Wicked's'' 10 Oscar nods ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz0Q1cBToLc

Updated On: 1/25/25 at 12:36 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 1/25/25 at 11:48am

There have been enough precursor awards at this point to have an informed hunch about who’s actually competitive in the Oscar and in which categories. Wicked has likely got Costume and Production design on lock and could possibly get another technical award or two, but for the rest of the categories the nominations are the award. Chu has basically never been competitive and has been regularly left out of most of the precursors and smaller awards even when the movie itself has done well. 
As for Best Picture, it’s still unsettled but really does seem to be a race between Emilia Perez, Anora, and The Brutalist.  
Wicked as it stands has defied expectations and become a bonafide worldwide phenomenon- surely a more meaningful victory than any number of Oscars.