Wicked Movie Seeks New Director- Page 7

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/4/21 at 8:55am

Her name is Zendaya.

Here she is singing acoustically.

 

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 2/4/21 at 9:01am

I've heard whispers that Michelle Pfeiffer has thrown her hat into the ring for Morrible. 

[Owen22]

Posted: 2/4/21 at 9:03am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Her name is Zendaya.

Here she is singing acoustically.

Wow. She is gorgeous, isn't she? However it's hard to tell if she could sing it from this. Her voice isn't exactly thin, but not Elphaba quality really.  It seemed in Greatest Showman she could belt...

 

 

"

 

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 2/4/21 at 9:28am

Here's my prediction, we get a star studded supporting cast, even a big name for Glinda and then a "Dreamgirls" moment where it's billed as "And Introducing _______ as Elphaba."

[theblackumbrella]

Posted: 2/4/21 at 10:19am

In a perfect world, Lindsay Mendez would star as Elphaba and Derek Klena would be Fiyero.

In a more reasonable world, Jordan Fisher or Damon J. Gillespie will be cast as Fiyero. Someone wrote Harry Styles and that would be a definite draw from a coverage standpoint, but if he declined the “Little Mermaid” remake I doubt he’d do this.

Andrew Barth Feldman I’d love to see cast as Boq.

The leads are gonna be a mess and I don’t have faith that they cast either well, but I hope I’m wrong.

I appreciated with “In the Heights” that they didn’t star cast and I hope Chu approaches this project similarly, but “Wicked” is a much bigger IP than “Heights”.

[rougeduck]

Posted: 2/4/21 at 11:05am

Ali Stroker as Nessarose?

[Kad]

Posted: 2/4/21 at 11:20am

Call_me_jorge said: "Wonder if they might try to stick to the books and milk a trilogy out of this... hmm"

...Why? This is explicitly an adaptation of the musical, not the (substantially different) novels.

[Owen22]

Posted: 2/4/21 at 3:38pm

rougeduck said: "Ali Stroker as Nessarose?"

Brilliant!

[Globefan]

Posted: 2/4/21 at 9:32pm

ucjrdude902 said: "I've heard whispers that Michelle Pfeiffer has thrown her hat into the ring for Morrible."

How about Michelle Yeoh for Morrible? 

[Valentina3]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 12:39am

sparksatmidnight said: " Plus, the books are awful and the show is much, much better than the original source."

Oof. Hard disagree. But at the same time, they are so different than actually comparing them is not really fair to either property.

[Tag]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 7:48am

Valentina3 said: "Oof. Hard disagree. But at the same time, they are so different than actually comparing them is not really fair to either property."

Gregory Maguire's bank account would say otherwise.

[Owen22]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 9:14am

Valentina3 said: "sparksatmidnight said: "Plus, the books are awful and the show is much, much better than the original source."

Oof. Hard disagree. But at the same time, they are so different than actually comparing them is not really fair to either property."

Well, let's face it. Like a lot of shows, Act Two of Wicked has some problems.

The worst being how they try to shoehorn characters from the original Wizard of Oz, how they thought it was sooooo cute to give the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion trite origin stories (yes, they repeat Maguire's Cowardly Lion story, but the other two ... don't get me started....)

I guess I can sorta kinda buy Boq's transition into the angry Tin Woodsman.  Yet, he's a "woodsman" (?) who supposedly has a very, very big heart, not the vigilante he is shown to be in Act Two Wicked.

But Fiyero as the Scarecrow?  Like... after he is transformed, why on earth would he join Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road to get a brain when A) there is nothing in Elphaba's spell that says in the transformation he loses his ability to think abstractly. And why would he think that? and B) why would he think that a man he already KNOWS is a humbug can do anything for he or the little girl  he's accompanying? He would immediately head the other way to Winkie country to be with Elphaba!

Let's hope the movie version will straighten all THAT out too.

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 12:13pm

I agree with ALL of this.  As much as I enjoy the stage adaptation of Wicked (and I really, really, really do enjoy it), there is no way to ignore the major holes and problems within its book.  I also hate that they decided to have Elphaba live at the end of the stage show.  Full disclosure: I have attempted to read McGuire's book several times, but can never get through it.  Does she survive in the book?  It seems like such a cheap attempt for applause (which, to be fair, every time I've seen the show, there is a huge applause).

I hope that the film's director will take what is incredibly charming and touching about the stage version while figure out how to patch up the plot holes and flesh out its many one-dimensional characters.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 12:31pm

^ I had no issue with Elphaba living. But what I want to know is what happened to Boq as the Tin Man since he was not heard from again after March of Witch Hunters.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 12:55pm

jlindsey865 said: "I agree with ALL of this. As much as I enjoy the stage adaptation of Wicked (and I really, really, really do enjoy it), there is no way to ignore the major holes and problems within its book. I also hate that they decided to have Elphaba live at the end of the stage show. Full disclosure: I have attempted to read McGuire's book several times, but can never get through it. Does she survive in the book? It seems like such a cheap attempt for applause (which, to be fair, every time I've seen the show, there is a huge applause).

I hope that the film's director will take what is incredibly charming and touching about the stage version while figure out how to patch up the plot holes and flesh out its many one-dimensional characters."

No, the "happy" ending is purely made for the musical. In the book Elphaba briefly speculates that the Scarecrow could be Fiyero returning to Kiamo Ko in disguise, but that notion is torn to shreds when he empties himself out to hide Dorothy and the Lion when she sends her swarm of bees after them on their way to the castle.

There's just so much that was changed for the musical that I have a hard time picturing them being able to, or even wanting to, bring back too many of the darker or more mature elements from the book for the movie.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 1:05pm

I don't have an issue with the resolution of any of the character arc, personally. Boq's arc is concluded in The Wizard of Oz.

I do agree that there are some issues and inconsistencies though. I always found it annoying how Morrible says "that's why she had magical powers - she was a child of both worlds," but we have no explanation, or foreshadowing as to why having roots in both worlds would grant anyone special powers. 

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 2:06pm

I also don’t understand the “twister of fate...” like from Morrible.

Like - I know that Dorothy HAS to come to Oz by twister, but why does Morrible cast a weather spell causing the twister? Does she know that Dorothy is on the other side as well as the intuition that she would be the one to kill the Wicked Witch of the West?

I actually think Morrible is one of the poorest written characters in the stage adaptation.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 2:47pm

Oh man didn't realize I'd start a critical review book club but this is fun to read. I have never thought that hard about Wicked's plot holes, as glaring as they are - mostly because it's far too much fun to just let the show take you wherever it wants to go. I don't find it confusing because before you can actually think about an issue, they throw something at you which is, to user an earlier poster's word, "charming".

I'm sure they'll have to work out some of this stuff. Plot holes don't fly super well anymore in movies, but the only thing I currently care about is the cast.

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 3:22pm

My favorite plot hole is Fiyero somehow arriving in Munchkinland for the fallen house scene. He makes it there shortly after Elphaba, who flew, via a swinging rope/vine that is seemingly connected to nothing. It’s so bonkers and borders on parody that I laugh every time.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 3:30pm

NOWaWarning said: "My favorite plot hole is Fiyero somehow arriving in Munchkinland for the fallen house scene. He makes it there shortly after Elphaba, who flew, via a swinging rope/vine that is seemingly connected to nothing. It’s so bonkers and borders on parody that I laugh every time."

 

You never heard about the Great Ozian Crosstown Express Rope? Clearly a fake fan! 

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 4:35pm

Owen22 said: "Valentina3 said: "sparksatmidnight said: "Plus, the books are awful and the show is much, much better than the original source."

Oof. Hard disagree. But at the same time, they are so different than actually comparing them is not really fair to either property."

Well, let's face it. Like a lot of shows, Act Two of Wicked has some problems.

The worst being how they try to shoehorn characters from the original Wizard of Oz, how they thought it was sooooo cute to give the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion trite origin stories (yes, they repeat Maguire's Cowardly Lion story, but the other two ... don't get me started....)

I guess I can sorta kinda buy Boq's transition into the angry Tin Woodsman. Yet, he's a "woodsman" (?) who supposedly has a very, very big heart, not the vigilante he is shown to be in Act Two Wicked.

But Fiyero as the Scarecrow? Like... after he is transformed, why on earth would he join Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road to get a brain when A) there is nothing in Elphaba's spell that says in the transformation he loses his ability to think abstractly. And why would he think that? and B) why would he think that a man he already KNOWS is a humbug can do anything for he or the little girl he's accompanying? He would immediately head the other way to Winkie country to be with Elphaba!

Let's hope the movie version will straighten all THAT out too."

In regards to Fiyero becoming the Scarecrow, I always attributed it to Elphaba singing “Though they beat him, let him feel no pain” in No Good Deed. We feel pain because of our nervous system. Without a brain, we’d feel no pain. Thus, Fiyero becomes the Scarecrow.

As for joining Dorothy, I always just thought he was playing along in order to protect himself and Elphaba.

[Globefan]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 6:28pm

https://www.playbill.com/article/stephen-schwartz-talks-making-changes-and-writing-new-songs-for-the-wicked-movie 

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 8:34pm

JBroadway said: "You never heard about the Great Ozian Crosstown Express Rope? Clearly a fake fan!"

I guess they really all can’t come and go by bubble!

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 8:34pm

JBroadway said: "You never heard about the Great Ozian Crosstown Express Rope? Clearly a fake fan!"

I guess they really all can’t come and go by bubble!

[Globefan]

Posted: 2/5/21 at 9:32pm

I wonder how different the film will be from the stage version.