Fellow Ozians, let us be glad, let us be grateful, let us rejoicify at the thrillifying first glimpses of the two-part Wicked movie both intentionally and unintentionally. With so much rumour, speculation, innuendo and outuendo for this much anticipated adaptation of the beloved stage show, I need to talk about this otherwise I fear I will feel hideoteous if I don’t.
This won’t be the last time I’ll be writing Ozian words in this post.
Wicked Movie Teaser Photos
Director Jon M. Chu posted the first look images of Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. While I was excited about catching a glimpse of two movies we have to wait over a year to see, it wasn’t long until people noted how darkly lit the photos were and jumped to the conclusion that both movies would be as dim as the Battle of Winterfell in Game of Thrones. However, Chu quickly clarified his Wicked movie would indeed be lit and I’d like to argue that the whole point of a teaser is to avoid giving too much away while offering fans a taste of what’s to come.
From what I can tell, Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba is either flying through a window after terrorising Oz or getting ready for the climax of her inevitably epic Defying Gravity judging the attic-like interior and green exterior. That we don’t see her in the green makeup (confirmed by Erivo) only makes me more excited to see her gorgeously greenified face. Meanwhile Ariana Grande’s Glinda is climbing up the longest staircase I’ve seen clad in a pink poofy dress while holding what I assume is the Grimmerie.
One Short Day later…
After seeing the Munchkinland set under construction, we got our first proper glimpse of the Wicked movie including Ariana Grande’s Glinda filming in Buckinghamshire. The only reason why I’m discussing what was shot is because A) every other media outlet has reported on it and B) it was quickly revealed they were filming No One Mourns The Wicked, AKA the stage show’s opening song. While not giving away plot details, what was spoiled was the film’s vibrant, fantastical and oh-so Ozmopolitan aesthetic (more on that below), and one major point of contention since Ariana’s casting was announced: her vocals.
Ariana Grande’s vocal fry and whistle notes are so distinct in pop music that they became easy targets to make fun of as soon as she was cast. As for me? I was cautiously optimistic because I knew she had a background in theatre as a teenager and stated in interviews and tweets over the years that it was her dream to play Glinda in a Wicked movie. Add in her close friendship with OG Glinda Kristin Chenoweth, it was clear she wasn’t going to play around and the vocals I heard proved that.
I’m not going to post the vocal/video leaks at risk of getting in trouble with the lawyers, but if you can’t wait to hear them in 4K quality on the silver screen, you can easily find them online despite Universal’s efforts to scrub them off the Internet. As for my thoughts? They were exquisite, and the reason why this leak was important to people was because No One Mourns The Wicked is the key song to show off a Glinda’s operatic soprano. In fact Grande’s vocals were that good some assumed she was lip syncing to Chenoweth’s vocals from the Broadway recording. However, many already have debunked this confusifying theory.
Does pink or blue go good with green?
One final area that became a sticking point for some with the Wicked movie set photos is Ariana Grande’s bubble dress. To state the obvious, it is very pink and not the classic blue we’ve seen onstage for twenty years (that we’ve already reached this milestone amazes me). While I understand the need to be protective over certain elements of a show as beloved as Wicked, I think now’s the time to accept the costumes aren’t necessarily one of them. As for my thoughts on the movie dress? Giving classic Oz meets pure Barbiecore princess, I personally want to live in this dress and I love how the layered skirt pays a subtle tribute to the stage version’s Popular dress.
If fans are going to get disgusticified over something as simple as the colour of a dress, they’re in for a rude awakening that this Wicked movie isn’t going to recreate the stage show beat for beat. The Wizard of Oz 1939 film has pieces of iconography that have become so ingrained in pop culture and they’re impossible to ignore, and I’m expecting Jon M. Chu will pay tribute to them while adding his own contemporary twist. Plus as I pointed out on Twitter, we’ve had two recent non-replica productions of Wicked in Germany and Brazil where Glinda wears pink poofy dresses in lieu of her iconic blue dress which you can see above.
Enough time has now passed for other creatives to bring their version of Wicked to life, and this movie is just one of them.
What do these leaks mean for the Wicked movies now?
I think these leaks have given people enough faith that the Wicked movie is in safe hands with Jon M. Chu in the director’s chair. While there was excitement with the casting including Jonathan Bailey, Academy Award winning queen Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum and Keala Settle, I think there was always that concern this highly anticipated musical movie would fall flat despite having the perfect ingredients to create something incredible. Of course photos and behind the scenes videos aren’t a reflection of a film’s final product, so we’ll just have to wait and see (unless they end up enforcing Marvel levels of security to avoid further leaks).
As for me? This will be the only time I’ll discuss the Wicked movie leaks and I shall return to the merry old land of Oz once the official trailers are released.
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