Adaptations
Stage musical
While vacationing in 1996, composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz came across Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and saw the potential in a dramatic adaptation. [8] At the time, the novel's rights were in the hands of Universal Pictures, which intended to develop a feature film. [9] After those plans fell short, Schwartz persuaded Universal and then-head of production Marc Platt on adapting the novel for the stage instead, to which they agreed with David Stone additionally joining as co-producer. [9] [10]
Schwartz and writer Winnie Holzman developed the plot outline over the course of a year. [11] While the musical retained much of the characters, story, and thematic elements from Maguire's novel, several changes were made to make it more digestible for general audiences, rather than the adult demographic the novel was originally intended for. [10] Greater emphasis was placed on the relationship between Elphaba and her roommate Galinda Upland (later known as Glinda the Good), with Schwartz stating: "Primarily we were interested in the relationship between Galinda—who becomes Glinda—and Elphaba... the friendship of these two women and how their characters lead them to completely different destinies." Other modifications included Fiyero becoming the Scarecrow; Boq becoming the Tin Woodman and his feelings for Glinda continuing beyond their time at Shiz; Doctor Dilamond being fired instead of murdered; and Madame Morrible going to prison instead of dying. Notable omissions included Elphaba's time in the Vinkus, Fiyero's wife and children, and Elphaba and Fiyero's child, Liir.
By 2002, a crew had been assembled for the musical: Joe Mantello as director, Wayne Cilento as choreographer, Eugene Lee as set designer, Susan Hilferty as costume designer, and Kenneth Posner as lighting designer. Kristin Chenoweth and Stephanie J. Block portrayed Glinda and Elphaba in the developmental workshops before the latter was replaced by Idina Menzel. Tryouts were held at San Francisco's Curran Theatre in the spring of 2003, [12] and the mixed critical reaction resulted in modifications to the book and songs. Broadway previews began at the Gershwin Theatre on October 8, before the musical officially premiered on October 30.
Unproduced projects
In the 1990s, actress Demi Moore won a bidding war to produce (through her company Moving Pictures) and star in a feature film adaptation of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, with Universal Pictures assisting in the purchase of rights from Gregory Maguire. Other actresses who expressed interest in adapting the novel included Whoopi Goldberg, Claire Danes, Salma Hayek, and Laurie Metcalf, and they had also been considered for the roles of Elphaba and Glinda along with Michelle Pfeiffer, Emma Thompson, and Nicole Kidman. Despite the project attaching Linda Woolverton as screenwriter, it failed to move forward after unsuccessfully courting a director (with Robert Zemeckis considered at one point) and Universal deeming its estimated budget of $35–37 million "implausible". Stephen Schwartz soon persuaded Universal to adapt the novel for the stage, and Marc Platt took over as producer after Moore departed from the project. [13]
In a 2009 interview, Maguire revealed he had once again sold the novel's rights to ABC, [14] which announced a miniseries adaptation of Wicked independent from the musical in January 2011. It was to be produced by Salma Hayek and her production company, though no further developments were announced. [15]
Film adaptations of musical
| Film | U.S. release date | Directed by | Screenplay by | Produced by | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wicked | November 22, 2024 | Jon M. Chu | Winnie Holzman [a] Dana Fox | Marc Platt David Stone | Released |
| Wicked: For Good | November 21, 2025 | Post-production |
Wicked (2024)
Following the success of the Universal-distributed Les Misérables (an adaptation of the 1980 musical and 1862 novel), Marc Platt announced a feature film adaptation of the Wicked musical had entered development. Talks had begun in June 2009, with candidates including Lea Michele, Amy Adams, and original stars Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel as leads; Holzman and Schwartz returning as writers; and J. J. Abrams, Rob Marshall, James Mangold, and Ryan Murphy as directors. [17] In June 2016, Universal announced Stephen Daldry to be directing the film and issued a tentative release date of December 20, 2019. [18]
Scheduling conflicts, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the film industry, resulted in a delay to December 22, 2021, [19] before the film was removed from Universal's release schedule in April 2020; Daldry exited the project later in October. [20] [21] In February 2021, Jon M. Chu was announced as the film's new director. [22] Production staff that joined in the following years included Schwartz, Holzman, Dana Fox (who also co-wrote the script with Holzman), David Nicksay, and Jared LeBoff as executive producers; Alice Brooks as cinematographer (in her and Chu's second collaboration, following the In the Heights film adaptation); [23] Nathan Crowley as production designer; [24] Paul Tazewell as costume designer; [25] and John Powell as score composer.
In November, singer-actresses Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were cast as Elphaba and Glinda. Jonathan Bailey joined as Fiyero in September 2022, and Jeff Goldblum joined as the Wizard in December; that same month, supporting roles were given to Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, newcomer Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, Aaron Teoh, and Colin Michael Carmichael. Peter Dinklage joined as Dr. Dilamond in April 2024.
Principal photography began on December 9, 2022, at the newly-built Sky Studios Elstree in Borehamwood, England. Filming was set to wrap in July 2023 before the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike forced a hiatus until November. Filming resumed and concluded between January 24 and 26, 2024. Production was done with heavy use of large-scale practical sets, including nine million tulips planted around the Munchkinland set, a yellow brick road paved with real mud, and a life-sized train to the Emerald City. Visual effects were handled by Industrial Light & Magic and Framestore, while editing was done by Myron Kerstein (in his and Chu's third collaboration) using Avid Media Composer. Post-production was completed by September 2024.
The film, officially titled on-screen as Wicked: Part I, held its world premiere at the State Theatre in Sydney on November 3, before releasing in the United States on November 22. It grossed $756.2 million worldwide on a $150 million budget, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2024 and dethroning Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) and Mamma Mia! (2008) as the highest-grossing Oz film and highest-grossing film based on a Broadway musical, respectively. Critical reception was positive, with praise for Chu's direction, the production values, and performances of the cast; the film has since appeared in lists of the best musical and fantasy films of the 21st century. [b]
Wicked: For Good (2025)
On April 26, 2022, Chu announced the decision to split the film adaptation in two parts, stating:
As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of 'Wicked' into a single film without doing some real damage to it ... As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one 'Wicked' movie but two! With more space, we can tell the story of 'Wicked' as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters. [31]
Schwartz echoed Chu's sentiment in June, while also confirming a new song was in the works for one of the two parts:
We found it very difficult to get past 'Defying Gravity' without a break ... That song is written specifically to bring a curtain down, and whatever scene to follow it without a break just seemed hugely anti-climactic ... Even as a very long single movie, it required us cutting or omitting things that we wanted to include and that we think fans of the show and the story will appreciate. What we have discussed is that changes need to be 'additive', to use (producer) Marc Platt's term. They need to add something to the story or the characters. They can't just be changes to do something different. I feel confident that by the time the movie is made, if we all continue to have the same degree of input, I could have a conversation with anyone who has a question about any of the changes made from the stage show and justify why I think it's better for the movie. [32]
In November 2022, Schwartz revealed the second film would include two new songs "to meet the demands of the storytelling." [33] Chu prioritized finishing post-production on the first film in order to understand how the second would continue the story. The process had resumed by November 2024, and the following month, the film — which had tentatively been branded Wicked Part Two — was officially titled Wicked: For Good, sharing its subtitle with the musical's penultimate number. [34] Its first trailer was attached to a one-night, theatrical re-release of Wicked on June 4, 2025, before premiering online later. [35] The film is currently due for release on November 21, 2025.
Potential future installments
In November 2024, Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman said they had discussed the possibility of "something" more associated with the Wicked film adaptation, but that it would not necessarily be a Wicked Part Three or Four. [36]
