Excellent.
After decades (well, one decade) of talk, it’s been confirmed that the Wicked movie is definitely happening. We heard back in March that there was a new director attached to the film adaptation of the hit musical after Stephen Daldry, director of Billy Elliot and The Crown, exited the project due to scheduling conflicts. A saviour in the form of Crazy Rich Asians director, Jon M. Chu, signed up to helm the feature and although the cast hasn’t officially been announced, the campaigning has well and truly begun.
Based on the Stephen Schwarz award-winning musical, the Wicked movie is an alternative telling of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, from the perspective of the witches. The film was originally set for release on December 22, 2021, but Universal had removed the title from its release schedule due to the pandemic, despite this it finally looks like things are back on track.
View this post on Instagram
On a recent episode of Variety’s Award Circuit Podcast, Amanda Seyfried was very clear about her intentions, saying she’d been campaigning for the role of Glinda the Good Witch for the last five years. The Oscar nominee also revealed that she’s been taking voice lessons during the pandemic and even revealed that she sent a demo tape of her singing Popular to the producers.
Sounds promising to us!
When pushed on who would be the perfect Elphaba, it was none other than our favourite Pitch Perfect star who got the nod, Seyfried admitted that Anna Kendrick would be perfect in the role; “I thought that her Elphaba would be really solid, and, you know, I sing the high notes and she can sing, she can be the alto,” she said. “She’s an incredible singer.”
In a subsequent interview with E! News, Kendrick was questioned about the possible pairing and although she hadn’t heard the rumour, she was not opposed to the idea, “Oh, these questions are always tricky to answer, to not create a thing,” she said. “I mean, obviously like, Wicked is a masterpiece and a classic and it’s an iconic show and that’s all I’ll say about that.”
Of course, this is all speculation for now, but we’re hoping an official cast announcement is not too far down the yellow brick road.
