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Despite the popularity of the musical, the film adaptation wasn’t guaranteed success. However, with the film breaking the record for most box office sales in the second week and biggest opening week for a broadway adaptation, “Wicked” not only defied gravity but defied expectations.
Starring Ariana Grande-Butera and Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked” (2024), the film adaptation of the musical, has been released to the public as of Nov. 22. Although the film was widely liked and successful, there’s no movie without trials and tribulations.
The original story in which “Wicked” is based off of is “The Wizard of Oz”. The plot is the prequel to the original “The Wizard of Oz” movie. It showcases how the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba Thropp, became wicked. The story follows Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland as they attend Shiz University in The Land of Oz. Along the way they meet other students and teachers that all affect Elphaba in becoming who she is.
Since its original announcement in 2012 by Universal Pictures and Marc E. Platt, the producer, there have been many forks in the road that eventually led to prolonging the process. The two stars were casted in 2021 during Covid-19. Due to this, production didn’t start until Dec. of 2022 in England, which was then interrupted by the SAG-AFTRA strike in July 2023. Filming was later resumed and finally finished in Jan. 2024.
The wait for this film was justified when audiences later saw the sets for “Wicked,” with most of the sets being real! Just for Munchkin Land alone, an east county of The Land of Oz, over nine million tulips were planted to be seen in the background. And of course, Munchkin Land was also built.
With that, The Emerald City, Shiz University, Oz’s moving head and even the 16 ton train to said Emerald City are all real with each being built and engineered to be moving set pieces. Almost none of the movie is CGI or filmed in front of a blue screen. When there was CGI or special effects, it was because it is impossible to have in real life, however some which could be CGI were decided against, especially for Erivo.
Erivo was given a choice early in the process to have her green skin painted on, lasting three to four hours or have it CGI and fill it in later. In an interview with Empire she explained why she wanted it painted in real time
“I knew I wanted to do practical before I even started,” she explained. “I wanted to look at my hands and see green hands. I wanted to look in the mirror and see a green face.”
This commitment from every member involved in the process gives us a wickedly ethereal movie. This film in three words is musical movie perfection. Watching the film felt like I was watching a live musical. I felt immersed in The Land of Oz. I could physically feel Grande and Erivo’s astonishing vocals.
Specifically in some of my favorite songs and scenes: “Defying Gravity”, “What Is This Feeling?” and “No One Mourns the Wicked.”
“Defying Gravity” is not just an amazing song lyrically, but Erivo truly did an unbelievable job at understanding who Elphaba Thropp is. Although Elphaba is known as “The Wicked Witch of the West,” Erivo really makes you understand why she’s wicked, getting a more emotional side of The Wicked Witch.
The connection Grande and Erivo had behind the scenes showed greatly in the movie, adding further to the emotional connection with every character leading to a sensational film. Every actor added their own pizazz to the film, from the lead role to a small Munchkin. It leaves you wanting to watch the film over and over again and this is only part one of the story. Part two will come out around the same time next year in 2025 and many are looking forward to it.
