Universal's WICKED Films - News & Discussion Thread- Page 51

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 2/1/24 at 11:37am

I'm guessing with credits, etc, each film will run between 1:40-1:50. That includes credits. Of course credits on a film this size can run 8 minutes long. And each film will have 8 minutes of credits. I don't think length has to date been a major pitch the director and studio have been giving for dividing the movie into two parts.

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/1/24 at 11:51am

Don't like Fiyero in One Short Day. The beauty of "One Short Day" has always been- two girls on the town. 

A last gasp of what could be Elphaba and Galinda's future had things gone differently. 

It's a satisfying part 2 to Popular where their enjoyment of eachother begins to grow.

One Short Day we see the peak of their friendship and that's why it's devastating what comes after.

 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/1/24 at 11:58am

Also with Defying Gravity ending film 1, what is the compelling midpoint of film one now?

Defying Gravity in the show is the turn at the midpoint where now the story is going to raise the stakes and become this thrilling race to the end

You need that for a satisfying story being told. 

If the midpoint of movie one is Popular, that's not stakes. That means it's mostly a film of setup and world building and Defying Gravity is the only big thing that really happens. There aren't any other big game changing beats in the story prior. It's just the girls at school getting acclimated.

I can't be the only one thinking like this. This is textbook screenwriting rules. 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/1/24 at 12:16pm

If you think I'm being a hater, I'm not. 

I'm articulating a point that any person who writes screenplays, or is in the world of film should've brought to their attention before they decided to do this. 

If Wicked was a very high stakes plot heavy intense story throughout (like Lord of the Rings for example or Hunger Games) perhaps you could make the argument to split it cause there's enough big surprising stuff happening to justify "we need to pause cause there's a lot more to cover here"

But the truth is Act One of the Wicked musical (which contains Act One beat, and Part One of the Act Two story beat that culminates in Midpoint which is Defying Gravity) is not a high stakes investing story. It's mostly frills, dancing, character development, and seemingly lower stakes of the world being just girls at school.

It's only when they have the confrontation in the Emerald City do we see real stakes and the plot is kicked into high gear. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/1/24 at 2:03pm

Depending on how they write it, I think the midpoint you're talking about would be the ball during Dancing Through Life, when Glinda feels bad for Elphaba and makes a gesture to include her.  Obviously it's not as big of a turning point as Defying Gravity, but if the first movie is written to really focus on their friendship and how it came to be, then that seems to be the big moment to me.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 2/1/24 at 2:34pm

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "If you think I'm being a hater, I'm not.

I'm articulating a point that any person who writes screenplays, or is in the world of film should've brought to their attention before they decided to do this."

I don't think you're being a hater, but you haven't seen the movie.  You're just assuming they didn't make the necessary changes to make Act I work as a standalone screenplay.

I actually think there's plenty of stakes and dramatic tension in Act I around the clash between Galinda and Elphaba and the revelations around the treatment of Animals, all culminating with a trip to see the Wizard.  I agree that Galinda's gesture during Dancing Through Life is a turning point, as is the departure of Dr. Dillamond.  I'm sure it will be restructured and retooled quite a bit.

[Flyboy_46259]

Posted: 2/1/24 at 3:02pm

The runtime of 1:40-1:50 makes sense. I follow the Stephen Schwartz newsletter, and he stated had they decided to not split the film, the runtime would be four hours. Stephen stated, it would be better to have two films two hours each than a four hour film. 

I know many are not thrilled about Wicked being two films, however the rumored budget for both films combined is $310 million. I find it unlikely that Universal would invest that much into one movie musical, they are going to try and milk these films for all their worth. Had it been decided that Wicked would be one film, I fear the budget would have been way lower. 

[TalksAboutBruno]

Posted: 2/1/24 at 3:21pm

Universal Orlando just announced a huge expansion. If the film is a hit (I'm sure it will be), I'd bet that we get an official ride (flying in bubbles, riding on broomsticks...). They could cash in on merch for years and years.

[Flyboy_46259]

Posted: 2/1/24 at 3:53pm

Universal Japan had a Wizard of Oz land, with a 30minute Wicked show. The possibility doesn't seem completely unlikely. Give us a WICKED Land!

[manseyism]

Posted: 2/2/24 at 1:09pm

Bowen also said he did a scene as Pfannee with Fiyero that he is worried will get cut? Im surprised that they are having deleted scenes.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 2/2/24 at 3:54pm

Every movie has cut scenes…

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/2/24 at 4:00pm

manseyism said: "Bowen also said he did a scene as Pfannee with Fiyero that he is worried will get cut? Im surprised that they are having deleted scenes."

EVERY film and TV show films the full shooting script. Only once editing begins is when the final cut is created therefore countless scenes are cut or trimmed. Many times they decide to cut a scene prior to filming it. I’ve worked on countless multi-cam sitcoms and feature films and each one had scenes cut from the final cut even though they were filmed AND featured a major actor. 

[TBFL]

Posted: 2/4/24 at 12:36am

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "Don't like Fiyero in One Short Day. The beauty of "One Short Day" has always been- two girls on the town.
 

One Short Day we see the peak of their friendship and that's why it's devastating what comes after.

"Devastating? Really??

 

 

[TBFL]

Posted: 2/4/24 at 12:43am

The main cast have just finished filming a 'behind the scenes' feature for NBC. They put up various sets to film on, went to wardrobe and make up departments and then fake filmed it, as filming has already wrapped.

There are some great merch tie in's coming, including Barbie and the one i'm most looking forward to - Lego.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/4/24 at 5:59am

The film premiere is only a few months away so the second phase of work now starts - filming interviews, commentaries, photo shoots, etc for all the press material. The talent’s work didn’t end when they wrapped AND they are now balancing all this while working on other projects. 

[veronicamae]

Posted: 2/4/24 at 2:18pm

TBFL said: "The main cast have just finished filming a 'behind the scenes' feature for NBC. They put up various sets to film on, went to wardrobe and make up departments and then fake filmed it, as filming has already wrapped.

There are some great merch tie in's coming, including Barbie and the one i'm most looking forward to - Lego."

LEGO????? Ohhhhhh no...my wallet.....

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 2/4/24 at 3:15pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "The film premiere is only a few months away so the second phase of work now starts - filming interviews, commentaries, photo shoots, etc for all the press material. The talent’s work didn’t end when they wrapped AND they are now balancing all this while working on other projects."

I don't think the big press push is going to start until summer at the earliest. Ariana's next album Eternal Sunshine is coming out next month, and I believe she timed its release specifically to be able to commit a few months to promoting the album before returning to the deep dive of Wicked in the second half of 2024. In her post about developing the album, she said to her team that in her "dream world, the first half of next year could be this."

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/4/24 at 3:50pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "The film premiere is only a few months away so the second phase of work now starts - filming interviews, commentaries, photo shoots, etc for all the press material. The talent’s work didn’t end when they wrapped AND they are now balancing all this while working on other projects."

The film premiere is in November (unless they're taking it to a film festival IF it's done by then), so some advance pieces could start around August, with most occurring in October/November.

[manseyism]

Posted: 2/5/24 at 10:23am

TBFL said: "manseyism said: "Owen22 said: "manseyism said: "Owen22 said: "QueenAlice said: "They are not bloating the run time of the stage show exponentially for film. It will just be presented in two parts. with what is normally act 2 being 10-15 minutes longer than what is on stage."

So...huh? The second film is an hour and fifteen minutes...?

Do they still try to shoehorn Fiyero being the Scarecrow, which has never made sense to the character's trajectory in the Wizard of Oz?

"

Fiyero is still the scarecrow, Jonathan has been teasing it with the farm emojis, just like ethan has done with tinman"

Then I hope the screenplay has found a much more organic reason why Fiyero would be compelled to do this..."

I am more confused about fiyero being in One Short Day!! that changes the exact reason why elphaba invites glinda with her, and is he gonna be flirting with elphaba in front of glinda the whole time? Lmao makes no sense"

Fiyero flirts with Elphaba in front of Glinda in the show.

Did it ever cross your mind how and when Fiyero went to Oz? Why can't they all go as friends? I guess you'll find out in November. If you are expecting an exact replica of the show, same costumes, same lines etc, you're going to be disappointed."

I guess I am just confused as to what the dynamic would be. I dont expect the exact thing but Jon said there arent huge plotline changes and I feel like this is one. In the musical, Elphaba invites Glinda because she is sad over Fiyero, so who invites Fiyero? And now in the movies why would Elphaba invite Glinda? Also Fiyero obviously leaves at one point so I am curious about that. It just feels like they want Jonathan in more scenes even if it is at the expense of the girls's story. 

[TBFL]

Posted: 2/5/24 at 11:09am

BrodyFosse123 said: "The film premiere is only a few months away so the second phase of work now starts - filming interviews, commentaries, photo shoots, etc for all the press material. The talent’s work didn’t end when they wrapped AND they are now balancing all this while working on other projects."

There's 10 months to go until it's released. That's a bit more than only a few.

I suspect they'll be aiming for beginning of Oct to get the first film completed. I have been to a few cast and crew screenings and they're usually a few weeks before release date, depending on how editing has gone.

 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 2/5/24 at 6:15pm

According to Daniel Richtman, he heard that we'll be getting our first look at the film through a TV spot that's set to debut during the Super Bowl.

[Voter]

Posted: 2/5/24 at 6:26pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "According to Daniel Richtman, he heard that we'll be getting our first look at the film through a TV spot that's set to debut during the Super Bowl."


Is he a credible source?
 

Variety is reporting it’s a possibility and Deadline reports they don’t expect one at all.

 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 2/6/24 at 8:44am

Daniel Richtman just updated his post based on new info he's heard. It doesn't look like there'll be a Super Bowl spot for Wicked.

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 2/6/24 at 8:47am

Wouldn’t Jon say something about it already ?

They should do it at the Oscar’s. Have everyone present it. 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 2/6/24 at 8:54am

WldKingdomHM said: "They should do it at the Oscars. Have everyone present it."

If the Oscars were being broadcast on NBC (flagship property of Universal), I think we'd likely get a TV spot for Wicked. But they're on ABC (flagship property of Disney).