Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz has become one of the most successful musicals of all time. The musical is told from the perspective of Glinda, the good witch, and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch whom, it appears, is killed by Dorothy throwing water on her near the end of The Wizard of Oz. Its plot begins before and carries on up to and after Dorothy’s arrival in Oz, with several references made to the 1939 film and L. Frank Baum’s original novel.
First premiering on Broadway at the Gershwin theater in 2003, starring Kristen Chenoweth as Glinda and Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Wicked has since spawned many productions around the world, smashing box office records across the globe. At this present time, the show holds weekly box office records in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago and London. The West End production and North American tour have been seen by over 2 million people (you could say the show defies gravity).
It comes as little surprise, then, that talk of a film adaptation has been rife for a long time, with various directors attached to the project, and various names rumored to star, as well as a wide variety ofpossible release dates set. However, nothing has come to fruition until now, with Universal Pictures confirming that Wicked will hit the big screen in December 2019, with previously announced musical stalwart Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Reader) set to direct.
But with the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), Wicked will probably arrive in Philippine cinemas January 2020.