The highly anticipated film, “Wicked,” was released Nov. 22 and has been a global success, raking in millions of dollars and millions of fan’s hearts.
Starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Galinda, the film tells the untold tale of how the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz” came to be. The hit musical that this movie is based on debuted in 2003 and was based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire.
The 2003 musical with the same name, written by Winnie Holzman, was a Broadway hit itself and has been an iconic piece of pop culture for two decades. The film did not fall short of the franchise’s prestige. After just one week in theaters, “Wicked” globally grossed $214.3 million dollars, surpassing the 46 year record that “Grease” previously held as the highest grossing domestic box office film based on a Broadway musical.
The film, directed by Jon M. Chu, is set before the plot of the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” takes place, following Elphaba, who is misunderstood because of her emerald hue. As she sets off to the popular school, Shiz University, she soon befriends Galinda, her roommate, who eventually becomes Glinda the Good Witch. After they both encounter the wonderful Wizard of Oz, the relationship between the two becomes complicated due to the tremendous amount of twists that are thrown at them.
Along with Holzman, the script for the movie was also written by Dana Fox, and starred more famous actors and actresses like Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard and Marissa Bode as Nessarose.
Aside from the captivating plot, many fans were most excited for the musical numbers. Taken directly from the Broadway production, “Wicked” is part one of a two part series that has songs from only the first act of the musical. Some of the favorite songs include, “No One Mourns the Wicked,” “Popular” and “Defying Gravity.” All of the music from the play and film was composed and written by Stephen Schwartz.
The continuation of this film is set to be released in April of 2025 with music from Act II of the musical and possibly new songs specifically for the movie.
There was an uproar of excitement upon the release of this movie. People flooded cinemas to watch Elphaba and Galinda on the big screen, and many who have seen it plan to do the same next spring to finish the “Wicked” story.
