Today, it was revealed that Universal Pictures has set a release date for the long-awaited film adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, Wicked. It will be released on December 20th, 2019. Two-Time Tony-winning theatre director Stephen Daldry (who also earned three Oscar nominations for Billy Elliot, The Hours, and The Reader) is set to direct the film.
No word on casting yet, though millions of fans have been wondering about who will play their favorite characters in the musical. Most of the time when a Broadway show gets a big screen transfer, the filmmakers go for big Hollywood stars to help sell the film as opposed to the actors who made the original show a success in the first place. The most notable example of this would be Julie Andrews getting turned down for the film adaptation of My Fair Lady in favor of Audrey Hepburn. Andrews at the time was only a Broadway star and had not yet made any movies until Walt Disney quickly snatched her up to be his Mary Poppins. Yet to every Julie Andrews, there’s a Barbra Streisand. She was almost turned down for the film adaptation of Funny Girl in favor of Shirley MacLaine, but producer Ray Stark convinced the executives at Columbia Pictures that if Streisand were not cast, he would not allow the film to be made. So not only did Barbra reprise her role as Fanny Brice in the film, but she became an overnight sensation.
By now, I think we should all rule out the idea of having Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth reprising their roles as Elphaba and Glinda in the film (they’re just way too old for their roles at this point, especially on film). There’s currently no celebrities I can think of to star in the film. Lea Michele has been suggested a lot for Elphaba, though I’m not sure if she’s really as big of a commodity as she was when Glee was still on the air. Amanda Seyfried has expressed in interviews that she would like to be Glinda (she probably is Universal’s good luck charm after having appeared in their commercially successful big screen adaptations of Mamma Mia! and Les Miserables). I know a lot of people weren’t the biggest fans of Seyfried’s vocal performance in the latter, but I think she deserves a second chance just to prove all those naysayers wrong.
In any case, I’m about to show you all several former members of the Broadway and/or touring companies that I think the filmmakers should considering for the film...
Elphaba:
Caroline Bowman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BoWVHIg5rI
Christine Dwyer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0bQbg-xMBw
Glinda:
Annaleigh Ashford (sorry the video isn’t properly synched with the audio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRR2Yl4xgrE
Erin Mackey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us9Yt1cZYTE
No word on casting yet, though millions of fans have been wondering about who will play their favorite characters in the musical. Most of the time when a Broadway show gets a big screen transfer, the filmmakers go for big Hollywood stars to help sell the film as opposed to the actors who made the original show a success in the first place. The most notable example of this would be Julie Andrews getting turned down for the film adaptation of My Fair Lady in favor of Audrey Hepburn. Andrews at the time was only a Broadway star and had not yet made any movies until Walt Disney quickly snatched her up to be his Mary Poppins. Yet to every Julie Andrews, there’s a Barbra Streisand. She was almost turned down for the film adaptation of Funny Girl in favor of Shirley MacLaine, but producer Ray Stark convinced the executives at Columbia Pictures that if Streisand were not cast, he would not allow the film to be made. So not only did Barbra reprise her role as Fanny Brice in the film, but she became an overnight sensation.
By now, I think we should all rule out the idea of having Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth reprising their roles as Elphaba and Glinda in the film (they’re just way too old for their roles at this point, especially on film). There’s currently no celebrities I can think of to star in the film. Lea Michele has been suggested a lot for Elphaba, though I’m not sure if she’s really as big of a commodity as she was when Glee was still on the air. Amanda Seyfried has expressed in interviews that she would like to be Glinda (she probably is Universal’s good luck charm after having appeared in their commercially successful big screen adaptations of Mamma Mia! and Les Miserables). I know a lot of people weren’t the biggest fans of Seyfried’s vocal performance in the latter, but I think she deserves a second chance just to prove all those naysayers wrong.
In any case, I’m about to show you all several former members of the Broadway and/or touring companies that I think the filmmakers should considering for the film...
Elphaba:
Caroline Bowman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BoWVHIg5rI
Christine Dwyer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0bQbg-xMBw
Glinda:
Annaleigh Ashford (sorry the video isn’t properly synched with the audio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRR2Yl4xgrE
Erin Mackey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us9Yt1cZYTE