Universal's WICKED Films - News & Discussion Thread- Page 118

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 9:06am

We saw the movie last night. It was largely enjoyable. Ultimately, this film highlights the reason why it was not the Tony Award winner for best new musical in 2004. The book is just so weak for the second half. The last third of the movie was really good, but the first two thirds really suffers from pacing issues. The two new songs, while pleasant, don't do the film any favors.

Still, the film is visually stunning. The leads are really incredible. Ariana Grande continues to be far more impressive than I gave her credit for when she was first announced, and Erivo's No Good Deed was truly amazing. The score sounds great, and the action scenes were well filmed. While it takes a while to get going, it is ultimately a strong movie and great adaptation of the material. I went back to see part one several times, but this might just get one additional watch.

[Kad]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 9:17am

I’m sure at least one of the new songs will be nominated- even lesser songs have gotten in, and they’ll want at least one of these women to perform- but it seems unlikely anything will stop the massive hit “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters from taking the win. 

Updated On: 11/21/25 at 09:17 AM

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 9:46am

jlindsey865 said: "rosscoe(au) said: "No one is getting nominated for this. The more I think of it the messier it becomes. Which is strange cause for me on stage I think Act two is stronger. I did think the same as Jordan that maybe a double feature would work. Sadly I can’t see myself sitting through this again."

Most prediction sites have Wicked: For Good landing a Best Picture nomination (it’s definitely not winning but I think it will definitely get a nom)."

Before anyone comes at me with this response saying "Says the same guy who doubted the first film was gonna be a major contender last year," let me be clear that what I'm about to dive into aren't predictions at all. Just observations I've noticed from previous years.

Sequels by and large have been hit-or-miss with the Academy. While all three installments of the Lord of the Rings trilogy were nominated for Best Picture, each of them performed very differently from one another. Fellowship of the Ring scored 13 nominations and 4 wins. Meanwhile, The Two Towers didn't do as well by only scoring 6 nominations and 2 wins. Luckily, Return of the King did the best by pulling off a clean sweep with 11 wins.

All three installments of The Godfather trilogy were also nominated for Best Picture. Part I earned 10 nominations and 3 wins, Part II earned 11 nominations and 6 wins, and Part III earned 7 nominations and 0 wins.

Meanwhile, James Cameron's Avatar earned 9 Oscar nominations and 3 wins. The Way of Water only earned 4 nominations and 1 win. It should be interesting to see how Fire & Ash does this year. Denis Villenueve's Dune earned 10 nominations and 6 wins. Although Dune: Part Two last year only earned 5 nominations and 2 wins.

It wouldn’t surprise me if this follows a similar trajectory to the Black Panther franchise. This pop culture phenomenon that was nominated for Best Picture, but the sequel isn’t as well regarded as its predecessor, and only winds up in a few craft categories and maybe acting.

"I’d be genuinely shocked if both Cynthia and Ariana didn’t score Oscar nominations (I think Ari has a real shot at winning)."

I have seen a number of predictors now questioning whether or not they'll even be nominated at this point. Even if Grande makes the Best Supporting Actress lineup, I still have a hard time seeing her win. The Academy can be pretty snobby towards fantasy characters. It's arguably why Ian McKellen (Fellowship of the Ring) and Angela Bassett (Wakanda Forever) both lost in their respective years.

"What I’m most curious about are the two new songs. They’re not winning, but I am interested to see if one, or even both, can snag a nomination."

Then again, the music branch has lately proven to be pretty snobby when it comes to adding new material to a pre-existing song score. ‘You Must Love Me’ from Evita (1996) was the last original tune from a stage-to-screen musical adaptation to have won the Oscar while ‘Suddenly’ from Les Misérables (2012) was the last one to have even been nominated. Meanwhile, many expected ‘Evermore’ from the 2017 live action remake of Beauty & the Beast to make the cut, but it missed. Same with ‘Spirit’ from the live action Lion King two years later.

Updated On: 11/21/25 at 09:46 AM

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 10:21am

Haven't seen it yet, but I have two questions:

1)  Why are the big reveals getting laughs?  Are they that bad?  They're so effective on stage and usually get gasps and applause.

2)  Can someone provide a few examples of the glaring plot holes everyone keeps referring to?  I'm really dumb at this stuff.  

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 10:28am

1) Because the last one is camp.

 

2) If Glinda can’t perform magic, how did Dorothy get home? 

[macbeth]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 10:36am

Going tonight!

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 10:40am

The biggest plot hole I can think of is how Fiyero breaks up their fight, gets taken out into the field to be tied up and beaten to death, gets turned into a scarecrow, and becomes cognizant enough to know what even happened to lie to a stranger about a plot he knows nothing about all in the time it takes Dorothy to leave Munchkinland and meet him first in her journey.

In the musical, they can hand wave it away as “it happened in the background” because we don’t see Fiyero or even Dorothy again until the end of the show. But they show most of this happening in the background of the movie and they show Dorothy a lot, so it makes that plot point even less easy to buy.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 10:52am

ColorTheHours, I've wondered about that for over twenty years.

 

How does Dorothy end up with Nessarose's shoes? Did Glinda give them to her?  If so, why?

Where do the Animals at the end materialize from? They simply emerge from the crowd in Munchkinland.

How would the Wizard be able to construct that bubble contraption? Did he work for NASA?

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 10:53am

For completists like me who want to listen to both soundtracks as one listening experience, I made this if anyone has Apple Music and wants to add it to their library! https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/wicked-the-complete-soundtrack/pl.u-28rLuNkBvrM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 10:57am

Can we finally get Michelle Federer, Idina Menzel, and Chris Fitzgerald back in the recording studio to add the Wicked Witch of the East to the OBCR?

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 10:58am

JUSTICE FOR WICKED WITCH OF THE EAST!!!

I've always dreamt that they recorded it all those years ago and it's sitting in the vault. I was so disappointed it was hacked to pieces in the movie.

I think Ethan Slater's transformation and performance in the March of the Witch Hunters worked very well though.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 11:00am

Oddly with this film, one thing that stood out to me as really bizarre that I never gave much thought to, is how/why did Morrible send a a twister to Kansas, in an entirely different realm. Like, what did that have to do with Nessa? 

Thats just one of the things that don’t make a lot of sense but don’t really matter usually but in this vastly expanded story, they truly stick out. 

Updated On: 11/21/25 at 11:00 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 11:13am

Yeah, once the action of Part 2 gets closer to and starts to coincide with the events of The Wizard of Oz, it feels like there's a mad rush to get all the origin details onto the board, timeline be damned- and the result is it feels like nearly everything we know about Dorothy's adventure was due to events that happened right as she got there. I thought in expanding act 2, they would've at least attempted to smooth out the timeline here and give these origins more time to settle and breathe. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 11:19am

I think it was when Dorthy and the gang got to the witch’s castle i thought “they’re there ALREADY??”

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 11:27am

Box Office: Wicked For Good $30.8 Million in Previews, Highest of Year

https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/box-office-wicked-for-good-previews-1236587612/

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 11:28am

Oh, these characters were booking it all over Oz. How did Fiyero get to Munchkinland on foot in the middle of an unnatural disaster?

This version of Oz must be the size of a few city blocks. If not, I feel for Glinda's horse!

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 11:35am

Call_me_jorge said: "Can we finally get Michelle Federer, Idina Menzel, and Chris Fitzgerald back in the recording studio to add the Wicked Witch of the East to the OBCR?"

Honestly, if I ever won the Powerball, this is something I have always wanted to do. I hoped maybe for the 20th anniversary, but he's hoping for the 25! I would also record all the cut songs, because I listen to the "Yellow Brick Road Not Taken" recording I found online years ago every once in a while and enjoy the music

 

[joevitus]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 11:42am

Kad said: "Yeah, once the action of Part 2 gets closer to and starts to coincide with the events of The Wizard of Oz, it feels like there's a mad rush to get all the origin details onto the board, timeline be damned- and the result is it feels like nearlyeverything we know about Dorothy's adventure was due to events that happened right as she got there. I thought in expanding act 2, they would've at least attempted to smooth out the timeline here and give these origins more time to settle and breathe. 

I'm guessing that onstage it's rushed largely due to expediency, but surely it is still rushed in the film--where they have the the freedom of a longer running time to cover it more smoothly--because the filmmakers don't want to risk any comparison with a film classic and they don't want any threat of Dorothy stealing focus from Glinda and Elphaba. 

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 4:56pm

"I’d be genuinely shocked if both Cynthia and Ariana didn’t score Oscar nominations (I think Ari has a real shot at winning)."

I have seen a number of predictors now questioning whether or not they'll even be nominated at this point. Even if Grande makes the Best Supporting Actress lineup, I still have a hard time seeing her win. The Academycanbe pretty snobby towards fantasy characters. It's arguably why Ian McKellen (Fellowship of the Ring) and Angela Bassett (Wakanda Forever) both lost in their respective years.
 

What predictors are saying this? Every prediction I've seen includes both of them and many still saying Arian will win. 

[CJRochester]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 4:57pm

I saw it today and enjoyed it, although a few parts dragged on longer than they needed to. Most of the plot holes were what I expected, being familiar with the two books and the stage show. 

One bit bothered me, concerning an object when Elphaba visits Nessa. I'll ask in a spoiler box. 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

When Elphaba visits Nessa there's a Grimmerie there on the sofa. Did Nessa have one of her own? Or does Elphaba always carry hers with her and it just happened to jump out on the sofa? 

 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 5:04pm

HenryTDobson said: ""I’d be genuinely shocked if both Cynthia and Ariana didn’t score Oscar nominations (I think Ari has a real shot at winning)."

I have seen a number of predictors now questioning whether or not they'll even be nominated at this point. Even if Grande makes the Best Supporting Actress lineup, I still have a hard time seeing her win. The Academy can be pretty snobby towards fantasy characters. It's arguably why Ian McKellen (Fellowship of the Ring) and Angela Bassett (Wakanda Forever) both lost in their respective years.

What predictors are saying this? Every prediction I've seen includes both of them and many still saying Ariana will win."

So far, they've mainly been on social media.

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 5:06pm

The Guardian:

"On the way to Wicked: Cynthia Erivo’s stage musicals – in pictures"

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2025/nov/21/wicked-cynthia-erivo-elphaba-stage-musicals-in-pictures

[ColdClimateDude]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 5:15pm

Like many on here, my first time seeing the sequel was disappointing.  And it felt weird to be so disappointed after being excited for a year to see it.  

So I went back the next day.  And you know what...I liked it.  It's still not flawless and not as magical as the first film, but I had a far more emotional reaction to it the second time around than the first.  I realized that the second time I had given myself space to see the film for what it was, not just what I expected it to be.

I'm really surprised that Grande is the one with all the awards buzz, because I thought she was far stronger in the first film. Her Glinda doesn't find her arc until quite near the end, and that felt like longer than it should.  Erivo is just beyond excellent, a fully felt performance right down to the marrow.  Vocals from both women are wonderful, but Erivo really blows the speakers out.

I know Chu loves Yeoh, but hearing her sing is like listening to a busy signal; only a busy signal has better vowel placement.  

I have two questions about Bailey...both spoilers:
 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Did anyone else feel it was awkward that he and Elphie slept together?  That's a significant change from the musical, and it just changes the dynamic of their relationship when she meets up with Glinda again.

Also, why does he look like Ryan Reynolds when he shows up as the scarecrow (which, is the first time we ever see the Scarecrow fully so we have no idea who or what he is)

It's really a shame that fear of being labeled abelists led the filmmakers to overcorrect the Nessarose character to...what they came up with.  It made Nessa's entire character really ill-defined and, like others have mentioned, petulant and whiny.  Also, how does she know how to read the Grimmerie?  Something Morrible can barely read?  And why doesn't Elphie snatch it away from her?

While I agree that it takes a while to get going, when you eventually watch them back-to-back, I have a feeling that those early, slower scenes will come as a breath of air before launching into the storm of the events that transpire.

It's going to make a tremendous amount of money, and Universal will likely dedicate part of its new Epic Universe expansion to it.  They may even be bold enough to commission a third film (don't put it past them), but I can't see this being a huge above-the-line Oscar nominee like it was last year.  I would only recognize Erivo and Tazewell (although as extensions of his Part One costumes, the Academy may already feel he's been recognized for his work)

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 5:26pm

ColdClimateDude, if I remember correctly, your spoiler happens in the book.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/21/25 at 5:27pm

Oh i hated that they made her just float like a Macy’s Thanksgiving day balloon. Is she supposed to be able to fly or something? Or does someone just put a string on her and drag her around like that