Will "WICKED" movie be ready by Dec 2019?- Page 5

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/15/18 at 12:13pm

Completely idle and non-informed speculation - but I wonder if the delay is in part because lawyers for Universal (or Platt's team) lawyers messed up the contract with Gregory Maguire.  Did Maguire sell the rights just to have a stage musical?  Did the contract provide for a film version of the musical?  I presume so - or why announce dates and discuss script adaptations - but crazier things have happened.  (Or perhaps Universal is claiming that Holtzman's book is so far different from Maguire's book that they don't have to pay Maguire for a film version?)    

Wikipedia says that Maguire stated in 2009 that he sold rights for a non-musical adaptation to ABC but the reference link didn't work - so I don't know whether that is true. 

But, then, if there were some kind of legal wrangling, I presume it would have leaked by now.  

 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 9/15/18 at 2:02pm

Universal owns the rights to the novel and the musical. There aren’t any legal issues.

[bk]

Posted: 9/15/18 at 2:12pm

Many of us tried to explain the date was not real - no one listens.  You know it's real when the movie is in actual and real pre-production and getting ready to shoot.  You do all remember the six years of BS (Barbra Streisand) and Gypsy, yes?  Never real, not for one minute.

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/15/18 at 2:33pm

QueenAlice said: "Universal owns the rights to the novel and the musical. There aren’t any legal issues."

That is commonly assumed - and as I stated, I have no actual information - but what Universal owns is defined by contract with Gregory Maguire.  And if Maguire was reported able to sell a non-musical adaptation to ABC, then Universal does not own all rights to the book. 

It would have been poor lawyering for Universal's attorneys (or whomever) to not negotiate obtaining the rights to adapt the book into a musical and any adaptation of the musical into another form (television, film, internet stream, ice show), but lawyers make mistakes.  But, if there had been an issue, then litigation likely would have happened by now.  As Buddy sings in City of Angels:  "The book may be yours, baby, trust me, the movie is mine."

 

 

 

[briankershawjr]

Posted: 9/15/18 at 9:14pm

This was reported this past week:
Says Schwartz, “I will tell you 100 percent there will be a movie of Wicked and it won't be that far away but it won't be next year because we're still writing. Pre-production hasn't even begun but that could start in the not-too-distant future."

Stephen Schwartz was interviewed this past week

[BwayLB]

Posted: 9/15/18 at 9:17pm

I’m not giving up on this to happen.

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/15/18 at 10:07pm

Don't worry. It's going to happen. Wicked was hands-down the biggest musical of the decade, and musical theatre has finally worked its way back into being a mainstream media entity instead of a niche. The movie is coming, and coming as fast as they can make it.

But even if they're directly adapting the musical without leaning back towards the novel, they're STILL going to have to drastically rewrite the script, because the Wicked stage libretto is rooted VERY firmly in the rhythms of a laugh-track sitcom. You can't film dialogue like that without a live audience, so there's going to be some drastic retooling done.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 9/15/18 at 11:56pm

this is that same old story about the stage version still making boffo bucks at the box office whether it be on Broadway or on tour, it’s just going to keep being delayed year by year like what happened with Phantom and Les Miz. i wouldn’t be surprised if the movie took 5-10 more years to arrive st the cinema.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 9/16/18 at 12:54am

GGersten- I truly have no idea what you are going on about - maybe it’s some kind of speculation for the fun of it but Universal owns the rights to both the book and the musical and has for a very long time. They’ve had total controls of the property since well before the musical was written.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 9/16/18 at 1:07am

QueenAlice said: "GGersten- I truly have no idea what you are going on about - maybe it’s some kind of speculation for the fun of it but Universal owns the rights to both the book and the musical and has for a very long time. They’ve had total controls of the property since well before the musical was written."

I bought the Grimmerie (the book which details the behind the scenes in depth making of the musical) when I saw the show last week. My understanding from the book is indeed that Universal owned/owns the rights to adapt the book and were therefore involved in the book-to-stage adaptation. I’d look up more details, but am trying to get to sleep before an early flight in the morning, but can’t seem to leave my phone alone. 

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/16/18 at 12:17pm

Miles2Go2 said: "QueenAlice said: "GGersten- I truly have no idea what you are going on about - maybe it’s some kind of speculation for the fun of it but Universal owns the rights to both the book and the musical and has for a very long time. They’ve had total controls of the property since well before the musical was written."

I bought the Grimmerie (the book which details the behind the scenes in depth making of the musical) when I saw the show last week. My understanding from the book is indeed that Universal owned/owns the rights to adapt the book and were therefore involved in the book-to-stage adaptation. I’d look up more details, butam trying to get to sleep before an early flight in the morning, but can’t seem to leave my phone alone."

Yes. It is speculation for the fun of it - I thought that was pretty clear.  That said - all I definitely know is that Universal had the rights for the book to stage adaptation.  The extent of Universal's ownership is defined by a contract that is locked away in a file someplace or on a shelf in Gregory Maguire's office (or safety deposit box).  As I wrote, it would be bad lawyering for that contract to be limited - and I presume that such bad lawyering did not happen, since Wicked was not Universal's first book to stage adaptation.   But you never know.  And I'm done.  

So, instead, more fun - how about while we wait for a movie, why doesn't Universal do a big "anniversary" concert version?  The 15th anniversary is in a couple of weeks so unlikely it could be put together by then, but why not a "sweet sixteen anniversary" concert?  Don't dreamcast the movie - dreamcast the concert.  

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 9/16/18 at 8:30pm

QueenAlice said: "GGersten- I truly have no idea what you are going on about - maybe it’s some kind of speculation for the fun of it but Universal owns the rights to both the book and the musical and has for a very long time. They’ve had total controls of the property since well before the musical was written."

This is simply not true. ABC owns or once owned the TV rights for a period of time. Universal bought the stage rights and owns the film rights to the musical (which has become its own entity) and Universal may own the rights for a film adaptation of the novel as well as the stage rights. 

Rights are not always sold as an all-encompassing package. Because of this previous deal, there could be some questions as to what can and cannot be included. To suggest such a thing is not out of the realm of possibility. This is reminiscent of what Amazon had been going through prior to announcing its upcoming Lord of the Rings adaptation. There were any legal hoops to jump through.

In any case, you can read about ABC's claim to TV rights on the following pages:

https://screenrant.com/abc-wicked-miniseries-salma-hayek/

http://www.playbill.com/article/abc-developing-wicked-miniseries-com-116008

https://variety.com/2011/tv/news/abc-plots-miniseries-adaptation-of-wicked-with-salma-hayek-11642/

All of those links clearly insinuate that ABC has or had the rights to produce a television adaptation of the novel seven years ago.