Universal's WICKED Films - News & Discussion Thread- Page 63

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 7/1/24 at 7:18pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "Now they have a few days to themselves beforeMoana 2sets out to dominate the box office."

Especially after Inside Out 2 proved that audiences will still go out to see a new Disney movie in theaters and not wait until it's on Disney+ at a later date. Now, Wicked is set to open up against Gladiator 2, which could be this year's Barbenheimer."

Wickiator! I’m all for it. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 7/1/24 at 7:18pm

(double post)

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 7/1/24 at 8:55pm

Unfortunately, Jon M. Chu is tweeting with the hashtag #Wickediator, when #Wickiator is clearly the better-sounding mashup.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/1/24 at 9:18pm

I still find it odd they’re not clearly marketing this as part one of two. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/1/24 at 11:29pm

They're smart to move it. Anecdotally, MOANA is seismic amongst people with young kids and is targeting almost the exact same audience as WICKED, with MUFASA right around the corner after that (opening at Christmas).

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 7/3/24 at 5:30pm

https://filmmusicreporter.com/2024/07/03/john-powell-scoring-jon-m-chus-wicked/
 

John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon, The Bourne Identity, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Happy Feet, Don’t Worry Darling) has recently been recording his underscore for the upcoming film adaptation of the stage musical Wicked.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 9:11am

^ Another surprising behind the scenes development!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 2:54pm

BwayLB said: "^ Another surprising behind the scenes development!"

Underscore music is generally scored by another composer. Stephen Schwartz did not write the scene transition music or underscore for the Broadway version of WICKED - William David Brohn did. Schwartz only composed the music to the songs. 

[BwayLB]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 4:32pm

^ Point taken. I just didn’t think Powell would do it. Wicked and Happy Feet were part of my musical theatre geek baby steps

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 6:02pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "BwayLB said: "^ Another surprising behind the scenes development!"

Underscore music is generally scored by another composer. Stephen Schwartz did not write the scene transition music or underscore for the Broadway version of WICKED - William David Brohn did. Schwartz only composed the music to the songs."

Saying that Schwartz "only composed the music to the songs" demonstrates a lack of understanding of these roles and the function of the music department.

On Broadway the composer has final say in all the musical elements even if they are not personally creating them. Sometimes they do also write some of those elements but opt to give the credit to other people. On WICKED, musical arrangements (which includes incidental arrangements) were credited to Stephen Oremus and Alex Lacamoire, Brohn was the orchestrator, and Jim Abbott was the Dance Arranger.

The film world is different, and the composer does not own their work in the way that they do on Broadway. Hiring a not-low-profile composer like John Powell is a little unusual, but there are no rules and we don't know the extent of his scoring. It could be just a couple minutes of music cues, or some glorified arrangements.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/4/24 at 6:46pm

The Chicago film featured scoring by Danny Elfman, of all people (and to get effect!)

[Musical Master]

Posted: 7/15/24 at 12:18pm

Looking at the budgets for both films (Part One costed 145 million dollars and Part Two will cost 165 million dollars), Wicked as a whole, cost 310 million dollars to make. Is it my imagination or is this the most expensive movie musical adaptation of a Broadway musical of all time? Even Hello Dolly! back in 1969 cost 25 million dollars to make, and that was around 200 million in today's money.

I'm wondering if the humongous budget is one of the reasons why Universal decided to split the movie into two parts. After looking that up, I guess one can't blame them for doing so.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/15/24 at 12:23pm

Both parts were already filmed. To avoid continuity and scheduling issues both parts were filmed as one film though they will be released separately. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 7/15/24 at 12:33pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Both parts were already filmed. To avoid continuity and scheduling issues bothparts were filmed as one film though they will be released separately."

 

It has nothing to do with continuity and everything to do with money. They weren't "filmed as one film," they just shot both parts back to back, similar to what Lord of the Rings did. Much more expensive to wrap a huge film like this and then do it all over again months or years later for a second part.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 7/15/24 at 1:43pm

I also imagine that production being shut down for months due to the SAG strike might've also added to the budget.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 7/15/24 at 7:38pm

Musical Master said: "Looking at the budgets for both films (Part One costed 145 million dollars and Part Two will cost165 million dollars), Wicked as a whole, cost 310 million dollars to make. Is it my imagination or is this the most expensive movie musical adaptation of a Broadway musical of all time? Even Hello Dolly!back in 1969 cost 25 million dollars to make, and that was around 200 million in today's money.

I'm wondering if the humongous budget is one of the reasons why Universal decided to split the movie into two parts. After looking that up, I guess one can't blame them for doing so."

Well if they were just one movie it would only be around 2-2.5 hours long so a shorter filming time so I doubt that is the reason for 2 films. It's two films because they're greedy and time will tell if that pays off for them. 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Posted: 7/17/24 at 10:09am

Kad said: "I still find it odd they’re not clearly marketing this as part one of two."

Help me understand your thought process here.  To me, there’s no reason to mention it.  The built-in mega-audience comprised of those wanting to share the movie with their kids after having first experienced the musical as tweens and Ariana Grande’s seventy gazillion social media followers are going to see the film regardless and likely already know about the two parts, and the rest will either find out shortly beforehand or be surprised and perhaps excited by the To Be Continued legend at the end of the film.  There’s no upside in mentioning that this is a two-parter (no one will see it for that reason) and a potential downside if a couple of people choose to sit it out because they don’t want to wait a year for the conclusion of the story.

[TBFL]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 1:17pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "I also imagine thatproduction being shut down for months due to the SAG strike might've also added to the budget."

It wasn't shut down for as long as you might think, as Jon Chu worked with actors not involved with the strike e.g Jonathan Bailey, other brit actors in smaller roles. They also did some filming using doubles.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 7/20/24 at 6:56pm

TotallyEffed said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "Both parts were already filmed. To avoid continuity and scheduling issues bothparts were filmed as one film though they will be released separately."



It has nothing to do with continuity and everything to do with money. They weren't "filmed as one film," they just shot both parts back to back, similar to what Lord of the Rings did. Much more expensive to wrap a huge film like this and then do it all over again months or years later for a second part."

That's interesting that they did film this back-to-back and was probably smart in hindsight. At any rate, I love it when movie musicals do look like when the money shows on screen. Other than West Side Story 2021, among others before that, I kind of miss that big on-screen lavishness that the genre doesn't do anymore. Mostly for budget reasons. I know that The Phantom of the Opera tried to do something similar, but it didn't gel for how gaudy and cheap the whole film was.

I can't believe the movie is coming out this November, when it was only yesterday when back in 2009-12 when it was rumored, that Rob Marshall would direct with the rumored leads being Lea Michelle as Elphaba and Amy Adams as Glinda. Or even back in 2004 with Idina and Kristin reprising their roles in a potential film version just after the show opened. Thank God we have dodged a bullet with Stephen Daldry directing it before Jon M. Chu was hired, I don't think Universal wants another Tom Hooper Cats on their hands.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 7/24/24 at 11:46am

 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/24/24 at 11:47am

DAMN. That video made me even more excited for November!

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 7/24/24 at 12:39pm

They spent money.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 7/24/24 at 12:58pm

I keep loving the sets and costumes every day!

[Musical Master]

Posted: 7/24/24 at 11:42pm

I love it when film promotions show how the look of the film was done. Not to mention heavy use of large-scale practical sets is very refreshing to see in an ocean of CGI settings in most effects heavy movies these days. All this effort for a two-parter movie musical; is going to be something to behold and Chu and the rest of the crew should deserve all the positive attention.

It could've been so easy for the studio to take the easy way out, but I'm personally happy they didn't. This is old-school, large-scaled, and old-fashioned Hollywood musical magic needs to happen more often.

[Observation]

Posted: 7/24/24 at 11:55pm

Not going to lie... until that little behind the scenes snippet, I thought the train was CGI for sure.