Let's take a peak behind the Emerald Curtain. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re pulling back the Emerald Curtain, exploring behind-the-scenes facts about 2024’s “Wicked” film adaptation.
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00:00Come with me.
00:01What?
00:02To meet the wizard.
00:03Why couldn't possibly?
00:04This is your moment.
00:05I'm coming.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're pulling back the Emerald Curtain, exploring behind-the-scenes
00:10facts about 2024's Wicked film adaptation.
00:13The wonderful Wizard of Oz summons you to the Emerald City.
00:18Number 10.
00:19A year-long intermission.
00:20Let me tell you the whole story.
00:22Watching the Wicked trailers, you might have noticed that most of the clips center on Elphaba
00:26and Galinda's time at Shiz University, with Defying Gravity as the big centerpiece.
00:31You can pull me down.
00:35There are virtually no scenes from the stage version's second half.
00:39That's because Act 2 isn't getting the cinematic treatment until 2025.
00:42Listen to me.
00:43You're not being told the whole story.
00:47You can't permit this.
00:48I'm afraid he's out of our hands.
00:50In April 2022, director Jon M. Chu confirmed that Wicked would be a two-part adaptation.
00:55The filmmakers concluded that the story couldn't be told in one feature without removing songs
01:00and characters.
01:01Like 2021's Dune, the advertising for Wicked has tiptoed around the fact that it's only
01:06half the story.
01:07This is only the beginning.
01:09Whether or not general audiences realize this, Wicked's pre-sale tickets have already made
01:13it one of the most popular films on Fandango.
01:16If we're ending on Defying Gravity, then everything has to lead to still be satisfying as a movie.
01:22Number 9.
01:23A long yellow brick road from stage to screen.
01:25Just follow the road.
01:27It's going to lead you right to me.
01:32In 2008, Universal extended producer Mark Platt's contract with three projects in the
01:36pipeline.
01:37A Wanted sequel, a Jesus Christ Superstar remake, and an adaptation of Wicked.
01:42Universal pushed forward with the Wicked movie following the success of 2012's Les Misérables.
01:47In 2014, Platt said he wasn't, quote,
01:55in a hurry to make a Wicked movie with the stage version still being a soaring success.
02:00After initially eyeing a 2016 release, Universal slated Wicked for December 20, 2019.
02:06That release date was ultimately given to Tom Hooper's Cats instead.
02:10Despite that enormous flop, Universal hoped to release Wicked in 2021.
02:14COVID got in the way, with Hollywood Strikes further delaying production.
02:18Wicked would be ready for 2024, more than two decades after the musical's Broadway
02:23premiere.
02:24You're the one the wizard has been waiting for.
02:27Number 8.
02:28Past attempts at adapting Gregory Maguire's book.
02:31Popular.
02:32I know about popular.
02:34Oh, I see.
02:35Before Wicked made it to Broadway, Hollywood considered adapting Gregory Maguire's 1995
02:40novel into a movie.
02:41Demi Moore reportedly optioned the book early on.
02:45Maguire granted the film rights to Universal, which planned to make a live-action film with
02:48Mark Platt producing.
02:50I was developing the novel as a film project.
02:55And one day, Stephen called me and said, I understand you're developing a film based
02:59on Wicked.
03:00Did you ever think of turning it into a musical?
03:02The studio struggled to find a satisfying script, though.
03:05The project was also seen as a financial gamble.
03:08After Stephen Schwartz came across the book, he got Maguire and Platt on board with turning
03:12Wicked into a stage musical.
03:14Even after Wicked became a Broadway phenomenon, there was still talk about doing a non-musical
03:19adaptation of Maguire's book.
03:20Why is it you're always causing some sort of commotion?
03:23I don't cause commotions, I am one.
03:27Between 2009 and 2011, ABC and Salma Hayek teamed up to produce an eight-hour miniseries
03:32based on the book, but it never took flight.
03:36Number 7.
03:37Alternative casting and talent throughout the years.
03:39It's time to try defying gravity.
03:45I think I'll try defying gravity.
03:52As early whispers of a Wicked movie circulated, Lea Michele and Amy Adams were seen as dream
03:56casting choices.
03:58In 2014, Harry Styles was rumored to be a potential Fiero.
04:02The same year, Nicole Scherzinger was reportedly in talks to play Elphaba.
04:06To direct, J.J. Abrams, Rob Marshall, and Ryan Murphy were considered, until the studio
04:11landed on Stephen Daldry.
04:13The Billy Elliot director remained attached until 2020, with Chew stepping in.
04:17Well, whenever anyone asks me, like, what's the one movie you want to do, and if there
04:22was one, I'd always say it'd be Wicked.
04:26Dove Cameron, Renee Rapp, and Amanda Seyfried were in the running for Galinda.
04:30Oh, my God, I would love to do it.
04:32I'd love to do it.
04:33I mean, I think every girl, every girl on the face of the planet would love to be a
04:37part of Wicked.
04:38Before the part went to Ariana Grande, who auditioned five times.
04:42Meanwhile, Cynthia Erivo was cast as Elphaba, while Jonathan Bailey beat out Ryan McCartan,
04:48Nick, and Joe Jonas for Fiero.
04:50Dancing through life, mindless and careless, make sure you're with us when you're dancing
04:59through life.
05:01Number six.
05:03Practical on-set magic.
05:04We've got to build Emerald City.
05:05We've got to build Munchkin Land.
05:06To see all that detail, all of it adds to the things that you can imagine.
05:16Even decades later, 1939's The Wizard of Oz still contains some of cinema's most iconic
05:21and awe-inspiring sets.
05:23Chew wanted to bring that same practical magic to his interpretation of Oz.
05:27While the film isn't shying away from CGI, Chew's team aimed to build as much as possible
05:32from the ground up.
05:33All of this didn't just take production design, it took special effects, it took visual effects.
05:39It's pretty mind-blowing to think that it can go from drawings and ideas and a dream
05:44to sitting here today.
05:46Real mud was used for the yellow brick road, and millions of tulips were planted for Munchkin
05:50Land.
05:51Even the train that takes Elphaba and Galinda to the Emerald City would involve a practical
05:55set piece, which weighed 16 tons and took two days to move.
05:59We had a 16-ton Emerald City train that actually moved on tracks that they could jump onto,
06:06and we had...
06:07I'll never forget it.
06:08I'll never forget it.
06:09Yes, never forget it.
06:10In addition to films like The Truman Show and Pleasantville, Chew drew inspiration from
06:14Steven Spielberg's Hook, citing large physical sets like the pirate ship.
06:19That is so real.
06:20Number five.
06:21How Mushrooms inspired the costumes.
06:24Every single costume in this movie is a piece of art.
06:28This is the reason I'm here, to create new iconic images of who these characters are.
06:34Costume designer Paul Taswell has received a Tony for Hamilton, an Emmy for The Wiz Live,
06:39and an Oscar nomination for Steven Spielberg's adaptation of West Side Story.
06:43He also previously worked with Cynthia Erivo on 2019's Harriet.
06:47While the Wicked stage musical and the Oz franchise as a whole provided a basis, Taswell
06:52wanted Elphaba and Galinda's costumes to feel specifically tailored to Erivo and Grande.
06:57I wanted to bring my own voice to the world of Wicked, embodied by Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba
07:04and Ariana Grande as Galinda.
07:07Their interpretation of who these characters are was always going to be new and different
07:12and exciting.
07:13Expressing who the characters are through their outfits, Taswell found an unlikely inspiration
07:18in a Mushroom documentary.
07:20Taswell saw the textures and patterns in Mushrooms as a visual language.
07:24Mushrooms and fungus were top of mind while defining Elphaba's grounded look, which offsets
07:28Galinda's bubbly outfits that practically float off the floor.
07:32I wish you could touch these clothes.
07:35There's just all of this pink and fluff.
07:37Number four.
07:38Ariana Grande's history with the musical.
07:40Are you looking for something or someone?
07:45One could argue that Grande's audition to play Galinda started when she was 10 years
07:49old.
07:50During a performance of Wicked, Grande and her grandmother got to meet Kristen Chenoweth
07:54backstage.
07:55Chenoweth recognized Grande's talent as she sang a verse from Popular.
07:59Over the following years, Grande made her Broadway debut and became a TV star on Nickelodeon.
08:04She also took the initial steps toward becoming a pop sensation, being featured in the Wicked-inspired
08:09Popular song.
08:10Popular.
08:11I know about popular.
08:12It's not about who you are or your man's a guy.
08:18Celebrating the musical's 15th anniversary, Grande performed The Wizard and I on NBC's
08:22telecast of A Very Wicked Halloween.
08:24I can't help standing with the wizard.
08:28He can't make things as I prefer.
08:32And while I stand there shouting, I'd be so happy I could melt.
08:38Where Grande sang one of Elphaba's songs, Erivo performed Galinda's Thank Goodness solo
08:43on PBS's Wicked in Concert.
08:45Forgetting your dreams, it's strange what it seems.
08:49A little well-complicated.
08:54Not long after, Grande and Erivo would swap songs.
08:583.
08:59Idina Menzel wanted to play Elphaba onscreen.
09:01I'm not casting anybody but myself.
09:04Idina Menzel won a Tony Award for her performance as Elphaba on Broadway.
09:08When a Wicked movie entered development, Menzel made it no secret that she wanted to reprise
09:12her role.
09:13It wouldn't have been the first time Menzel brought a character from stage to screen,
09:16joining her fellow Rent alumni in the 2005 film version.
09:20In 2014, Menzel acknowledged that it might make more sense for her to play Elphaba's
09:24mother at this point.
09:26Still, Menzel said she would die to be in the film.
09:29By 2021, Grande and Erivo were cast as the leads.
09:32I haven't given her any advice because she doesn't need any advice.
09:35I think she's so incredibly talented.
09:37I'm just really proud of it.
09:40I'm proud that it's going to reach an even wider audience.
09:43Although Menzel was, quote, very excited about the casting, she admitted it was hard to let
09:48go of Elphaba and felt a little sad about aging out of the role.
09:52Yes, I'm very excited, and I know it's in great hands, and I've sent so much love to
09:58Cynthia and Ariana, and I'm there for them if they need me.
10:01And yes, I'm a little sad that I'm just older and can't play the role, you know?
10:072.
10:08Changes from the stage musical
10:10Something has changed within me.
10:16She doesn't give a tweet when anyone thinks.
10:18Something is not the same.
10:21Being a two-part event allows the filmmakers to preserve most of the stage musical's songs
10:25and plot points.
10:26It also opens the door for new characters like Miss Cottle, played by Keala Settle
10:30of The Greatest Showman.
10:32Established characters will be further explored, too.
10:34Part One dedicates more time to Elphaba's relationships with Madame Morrible and her
10:38sister Nessa Rose, not to mention her difficult upbringing in Munchkinland.
10:42Stop!
10:43No!
10:45Erivo suggested a few tweaks to Elphaba, such as her nails and hair.
10:49Chew will take a few liberties with the musical numbers, moving part of Dancing Through Life
10:53to a rotating library and giving the Ozdust Ballroom a nightclub makeover.
10:58I'm Fiyero.
11:00Oh, Oz.
11:03I see that the responsibility to corrupt my fellow students falls to me.
11:07Other additions draw straight from Maguire's book and the L. Frank Baum classics that started
11:11it all.
11:12Welcome new students.
11:15Expected.
11:16The unexpected.
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11:37The wonderful thing about this particular version is it grows and there's a couple
11:42of added elements to it that you don't get from the stage version.
11:46In 2017, before Wicked got split into two films, it was reported that Stephen Schwartz
11:51had teased three new songs written for the screen adaptation.
11:54He also suggested they might make room for a song cut from the Broadway version.
11:58In a conflicting report, Schwartz claimed he hadn't written any new music, but the Wicked
12:02movie would have, quote, at least two new tunes.
12:05Like a hint, like something's coming, some ideas coming into my head.
12:10When the movie's soundtrack was unveiled, it featured 11 Act 1 songs, covering everything
12:15from No One Mourns the Wicked to Defying Gravity.
12:18Tell them how I am defying gravity
12:24You actually did it.
12:25Flying high defying gravity
12:28You can do anything I know.
12:31Yet no new songs were listed.
12:33Likewise, the Films for Your Consideration page doesn't list a best original song contender.
12:38While one short section is added to one short day, no new songs are written from scratch.
12:43Nevertheless, Schwartz has continued to hint at one or two new songs, although we likely
12:48won't hear them until Part 2.
12:50What is this feeling?
12:54I got us tickets.
12:55You coming?
12:56Everyone will be there.
12:57Do any of you Ozians have a Wicked secret to share?
13:00Let us know in the comments.
13:02If there are no further questions, I'm gonna go.
13:05Do you agree with our picks?
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