WICKED - The Popcorn Junkies Movie Review (SPOILERS)

Popcorn Junkies Movie Reviews

Wicked (titled onscreen as Wicked: Part I) is a 2024 American musical fantasy film directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, with songs by Stephen Schwartz. It is the first of a two-part film adaptation of the stage musical of the same name by Schwartz and Holzman, which was loosely based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, which in turn is based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, its sequels and its 1939 film adaptation. The film covers the musical's first act. It stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp and Ariana Grande-Butera[b] as Galinda Upland. Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum are featured in supporting roles. Set in the Land of Oz, mostly before Dorothy Gale's arrival from Kansas, it follows Elphaba as she embarks on her path to becoming the Wicked Witch of the West, and chronicles her friendship with her classmate Galinda, who becomes Glinda the Good. Universal Pictures and Marc Platt, who both produced the stage musical, announced the film adaptation in 2012. After a long development and multiple delays, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chu was hired to direct, with Erivo and Grande cast in 2021. The film was split into two to avoid cutting plot points and expand the characters' journeys and relationships. Principal photography began in England in December 2022, was interrupted in July 2023 by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, and was resumed and completed in January 2024. Wicked premiered at the State Theatre in Sydney, Australia, on November 3, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 22. It received positive reviews and has grossed $360.3 million worldwide on a $150 million budget. Wicked Part Two is scheduled for release on November 21, 2025.