Long earlier than Wicked made the soar from stage to display screen, the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel had Hollywood in a frenzy.
Jon M. Chu‘s current film musical adaptation marks a protracted journey to the massive display screen for the Wizard of Oz prequel, with Whoopi Goldberg vying for the rights to Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West shortly after the bestseller’s debut.
“This is true,” Goldberg’s rep instructed Vanity Fair. “Whoopi beloved the e book and tried onerous to get the rights.”
According to Maguire, Goldberg wasn’t the one actress to throw her hat within the ring. “People who had expressed an curiosity within the first six months included Whoopi Goldberg and Claire Danes. Salma Hayek had had some curiosity, and Laurie Metcalf,” he recalled.
The writer hoped to work with Demi Moore, who optioned the rights by means of her manufacturing firm Moving Pictures, which already had a relationship with Universal and would have made the movie simpler to make.
Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and director Jon M. Chu on the set of Wicked (2024) (Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Maguire imagined Moore as Elphaba. “I used to say, I can think about Demi Moore bare and inexperienced on the duvet of Vanity Fair,” he stated. Meanwhile, a few of the names in consideration for Glinda have been Michelle Pfeiffer, Emma Thompson and Nicole Kidman, in line with Moore’s producing companion Suzanne Todd.
The story was finally tailored right into a Tony-winning Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, starring Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda.
Based on the musical and Maguire’s novel, Chu’s Wicked follows the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda, the Good Witch (Ariana Grande) as they first meet at Shiz University and share a life-changing encounter with the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum).
Breaking a number of field workplace data, Wicked had a $164.2 million worldwide opening. The movie has additionally earned 4 Golden Globe nominations, together with Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, Best Actress for Erivo and Best Supporting Actress for Grande.
