Universal's WICKED Films - News & Discussion Thread- Page 116

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 11/5/25 at 2:24am

Stephen Schwartz: My life upon the 'Wicked' stage (and screen) & many more musicals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhNx021KlZs

 

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/5/25 at 5:51am

Ariana Grande Still Has Surprises in Store

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/movies/ariana-grande-wicked-for-good.html?unlocked_article_code=1.y08.QU5W.J21Y1QiW-s4U&smid=nytcore-android-share

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 11/5/25 at 8:51am

People didn't wish her any harm, her fandom is great, people were just upset that didn't happened.

Her ''don't wish danger on us'' was not necessary, Grande has just been lacking attention on Brazil (her third, I guess, biggest market) and people got frustrated.

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 11/5/25 at 9:06am

I saw the movie and really liked, but then again I was a fan of the first part.

The fact that a 50 minute second act was turned into a 2h movie helps to bring some solutions, but also expose some problems.

Aside from a gorgeous ''Thank Goodness'', the fact that we have to deal with ''Wonderful'' and Elphaba's new solo doesn't help because I'm not necessarily a fan of this animal subplot.

But once we get this trio in action everything gains power and drama because Ariana, Cynthia and Bailey are just so good in these roles that I can't even put into words.

Erivo's No Good Deed is so magnificent that feels like real live theater, the scene is beautiful shot as some scene in this part like the tornado one. The color grading and lightning were certainly ''fixed'' and the movie looks even prettier than the first one.

I don't think anyone sang AS LONG AS YOU'RE MINE like Bailey, his voice is just stellar.

Glinda's new solo, like Elphaba's, is not remarkable musically but fits the narrative better and leads to a FOR GOOD that it's perfection, there's a beautiful shot between Glinda and Elphaba at Kiamo Ko that I simply adored.

The movie really soars after the first 30 minutes and it's a beautiful way to close this chapter.

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/13/25 at 3:14pm

Ariana Grande at the Singapore premiere

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8DGqtb7

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/14/25 at 1:16pm

Stumbled on this while looking for something else on YouTube. Erivo and Misty Copeland. No Good Deed:

 

https://youtu.be/rNl21uPXOqo?si=JTMHTQYT0VlN-xzk

[TBFL]

Posted: 11/14/25 at 10:16pm

MadsonMelo said: "I saw the movie and really liked, but then again I was a fan of the first part.

The fact that a 50 minute second act was turned into a 2h movie helps to bring some solutions, but also expose some problems.

Aside from a gorgeous ''Thank Goodness'', the fact that we have to deal with ''Wonderful'' and Elphaba's new solo doesn't help because I'm not necessarily a fan of this animal subplot.

But once we get this trio in action everything gains power and drama because Ariana, Cynthia and Bailey are just so good in these roles that I can't even put into words.

Erivo's No Good Deed is so magnificent that feels like real live theater, the scene is beautiful shot as some scene in this part like the tornado one. The color grading and lightning were certainly ''fixed'' and the movie looks even prettier than the first one.

I don't think anyone sang AS LONG AS YOU'RE MINE like Bailey, his voice is just stellar.

Glinda's new solo, like Elphaba's, is not remarkable musically but fits the narrative better and leads to a FOR GOOD that it's perfection, there's a beautiful shot between Glinda and Elphaba at Kiamo Ko that I simply adored.

The movie really soars after the first 30 minutes and it's a beautiful way to close this chapter."

I thought No Good Deed was the best of all the songs in the stage to screen adaptation. It was so big and epic. It even got a round of applause in the screening I saw.

Despite the film filling in lots of the details the show doesn't have, I felt it highlighted some  of the story's plot holes.. 

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 11/14/25 at 10:59pm

Seeing it Wednesday night in IMAX 3D in Melbourne Australia. I actually enjoyed the first part, even though I think the first on stage is basically a mess. So looking forward to this. 

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/16/25 at 4:09am

Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande Reflect on Wicked After Red Carpet Scare

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/cynthia-erivo-ariana-grande-wicked-reflection-singapore-1236583015

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 11/16/25 at 10:27am

Nice little profile on Stephen Schwartz on CBS Sunday Morning today. Had no idea that:

a. he actually left the biz in the 90s and went back to school

b. he actually has a 3rd long-running show in the 70s, The Magic Show, which ran almost four years!

[HBP]

Posted: 11/17/25 at 10:11pm

Just got out of a screening of Wicked: For Good.

I loved so much of the first film. The cinematography in Part I was mostly gorgeous and sometimes breathtaking. The easter eggs and fan service were subtle. Most importantly, Cynthia, Ariana, and Jon M. Chu found so much emotional depth in hidden places. The Ozdust Ballroom scene comes immediately to mind. I was really looking forward to a similar experience in For Good. Some spoilers ahead.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

In the end, I found it underwhelming.

The first 30–60 minutes felt like a slog. A sometimes beautiful, often bloated slog.

Only two songs got applause from a very eager audience: As Long as You're Mine and No Good Deed.

The new songs and padded songs felt out of place. The Girl in the Bubble was a particular low point. The sentiment worked, but the lyrics were pedestrian. 

The Wicked Witch of the East was... pretty bad. 

The two major (and self-serious) character transformations both got giggles from the audience.

Many plot points felt even less logical than they do on Broadway: Elphaba for some reason nearly reconciling with the Wizard (and Glinda's wedged-in presence) in Wonderful; the catfight scene; the lack of mourning for Nessarose; Elphaba leaving Fiyero in Munchkinland but then pretending she's helpless in saving him; the nonsensical post-For Good scene that I won't spoil. 

While the movie extends the second act by nearly an hour, I felt Jon M. Chu, Winnie Holzman, and Dana Fox merely stretched the material this time instead of deepening it, which made the seams all the more visible. 

Also... just how big is Oz supposed to be?! One square mile? Everyone gets everywhere so fast. Why do they need a yellow brick road and a train?

I'll step out of my curmudgeonliness to say there were parts of the film I truly loved. Cynthia and Ariana both shine. The latter hour felt much more engaging and there are moments and a few shots toward the end that completely melted my heart.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 11/17/25 at 10:31pm

Does the review embargo lift tomorrow? Does anyone know what time reviews will start popping up?  

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 11/17/25 at 11:25pm

I saw it tonight and really loved it. No Good Deed is absolutely the highlight and got deserved applause.

Some other thoughts:

-I really liked the opening sequence 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

We get some nice part 1 reprises 

-Neither new song was that exciting for me. I liked the idea of both of them but neither build to a satisfying climax

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

-Why does Elphaba walk away from Fiyero in the beginning of ALAYM??

-Ariana and Cynthia obviously shine. People on both sides of me were weeping during For Good

-I thought the ending was a little too drawn out 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 5:07am

No spoilers, but I caught an early screening last night on a whim, and I was absolutely blown away. My only minor quibble is that neither of the two new songs are that great or even needed. They are both more QOV caliber than classic Schwartz. Besides that, I thought this was pretty damn perfect - a truly epic conclusion.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 5:54am

Dan Bayer of Next Best Picture writes "Act Two of Wicked is the reason I don’t like Wicked (on stage), but since the changes to Part One added depth, I was cautiously optimistic for this. Sadly, not all the book problems get solved, but Erivo and especially Grande yet again make the most of the new material. The design elements remain delectable, but the muddy digital sheen over everything makes it look cheaper, more plastic, and some of the visual effects sequences look seriously shoddy. Combined with the story issues, it fails to fly as high as Part One, I’m sorry to say."
https://letterboxd.com/dancindan/film/wicked-for-good/

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 12:27pm

Wicked: For Good sarts out at 62 on Metacritic with 24 reviews

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 1:23pm

In her review for Next Best Picture, Lauren LaMagna, who gave the first film an 8/10, gives the second one a 7/10.
https://nextbestpicture.com/wicked-for-good/

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 4:20pm

Just hand over that Oscar to Ariana. I have a newfound respect for her as an actress. Her "Glinda" is perfection and owns this film.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 4:59pm

Just got out of an early screening and I thought that Wicked: For Good was quite a large improvement over the original musical's Act II. I think it's as equal with the first film in terms of quality and an extremely satisfying conclusion to the two Wicked films. Cynthia and Ariana are as perfect as they were before with maybe Ariana getting the slight edge because of the wide range of emotions that she sells so effortlessly. The two new songs were actually pretty good from what I could hear with maybe "The Girl in the Bubble" being my favorite of the two but "No Place Like Home" is really good too. To me those two songs never felt like Oscar-bait which was a relief to me. All in all, a great way to spend a day at the movies; and while critics predictably won't care for the second half of Wicked as they did with the first film, audiences are head over heels in love with it as they were last year.

10 out 10. If the two Wicked films were combined into one film with an intermission, this would be one of the best film adaptations of a Broadway musical we had quite possibly since The Sound of Music.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 8:22pm

^ Saw it early too and agree with everything you said, except the two new songs aren't very good nor are they necessary at all.

The rest was flawless, no (more) notes. Enjoy, all.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 11/18/25 at 11:45pm

I liked the movie a lot! I think Part 1 might have been the better film, but this one also knocked it out of the park. Everyone is singing Ariana’s praises, and while she does a good job, I do wish Cynthia was getting more raves, too, because she absolutely killed it. She brought life and strength into my favorite female character of all time, and boy, can she SING!

The audience I saw it with clapped at two songs: As Long As You’re Mine and No Good Deed. ALAYM also got some gasps and giggles from the women around me, so that was fun, too. I wasn’t a fan of the two new songs, and I walked out already forgetting what they even sounded like and wishing they could have been cut to give other scenes some room to breathe. Unfortunately, the pacing issues that are infamous in Act 2 of the stage musical are still present here, but it’s not really as bad as in the source material, given the added length. I still think cutting the story into two parts was the right move.

All in all, as a longtime Wicked fan, I’m grateful the horrors I imagined for a potential movie over the years didn’t end up touching this project. It feels surreal to finally live in a post-Wicked movie world, yet here we are. Go enjoy it, y’all!

[rg7759]

Posted: 11/19/25 at 12:03am

Just cutting 5 minutes out of the 1st half hour would help so much with pacing as the movie is  hobbling to even get started. Im happy with the movie but im really surprised we're seeing what seems like a rough cut in some moments

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 11/19/25 at 7:33am

That opening ten minutes is completely unnecessary, the animal subplot ( I haven’t read the book ) drags the film to shattering halt. It takes so long to get going that a good thirty minutes should have ended up on the cutting room floor. I personally think that act two on stage becomes engaging theatre ( after the drawn out awful act one, up to we finally get to the Wizard ) 

In saying all of that the final forty or so minutes was indeed wonderful, but I think the first films pacing and storytelling win. 
 

Both ladies very good, but nothing like the first film, No Good Deed and For Good the highlights! 
 

[whatacharacter]

Posted: 11/19/25 at 8:55am

I saw the film Monday, and overall feel like it was very well done, however one specific issue is still bugging me...  In the first film, Glinda has so many clothes that there is little room for Elphaba in their room at Shiz... Now she is a woman of the people and comes to every public appearance in the same dress?!?  It makes no sense.

 

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/19/25 at 12:18pm

Leonardo DiCaprio, Danny Strong to Make 'Wizard of Oz' Doc

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/wizard-of-oz-documentary-leonardo-dicaprio-1236584799/