It has only been two weeks since the release of Wicked and the feedback is outstanding.
Wicked the Musical is one of the longest running shows in the world with over 8,000 performances. So, when a movie adaptation was announced, fans were elated. This movie took multiple years to make for two reasons, one: the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike that halted production of films for six months, and two: the films writers, Dana Fox and Winnie Holzman added to the plot creating more depth and surprise for fans of the original musical.
The movie being able to give a more detailed story while maintaining the same layout as the musical is one of the reasons it has been successful, and the starring actresses, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were a big part of this. A Rotten Tomatoes reviewer passionately expresses that the movie was a “dream come true:” “The resulting adaptation satisfyingly combines the grandiosity of a musical and the intimacy of filmmaking.” This was something many people were concerned about when the movie was announced.
As someone who has seen the musical version and does not actively listen to Grande’s music, I went into this expecting the movie adaptation would be worse in every way. However, after seeing it, that was not the case. When movie adaptations are created everyone expects the actor not to stray from how the lines are delivered in the musical. Grande, however, made Glinda her own. In the musical, Kristin Chenoweth took a sassier approach when delivering Glinda’s lines, and Grande had a funnier and lighter approach to the character.
Erivo, who played Elphaba, also had different acting choices than the musical’s Elphaba (Idina Menzel). In a fan-favorite song “Defying Gravity”, Erivo sings the ending riff slightly different. While some fans think it should not have been changed, I believe it adds more flavor to the song and scene.
The second part of Wicked comes out November 21, 2025. If this movie adaptation has already surpassed so many people’s expectations, I wonder what the effect of the second one will be.