Written by: Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Content warning: <\/strong>This article contains spoilers<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWicked\u201d has officially hit theaters. Fan excitement for the movie skyrocketed in the spring of 2023 when first-look pictures were released. Filming had started the year prior, but was halted from July to November due to the Screen Actors Guild strike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Being split into two movies, \u201cWicked\u201d is a screen adaptation of the Broadway musical that originally premiered in 2003. The musical is based on the 1995 novel, \u201cWicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,\u201d by Gregory Maguire, which is, of course, based on the 1900 L. Frank Baum novel, \u201cThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz,\u201d and its 1939 film adaptation, \u201cThe Wizard of Oz.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Told from the perspective of witches Galinda and Elphaba, the musical follows events from before and after the arrival of Dorothy. As it progresses, the audience learns about how Elphaba and Galinda become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. Titled \u201cWicked: Part One,\u201d the movie follows Act One of the musical, with \u201cWicked: Part Two\u201d set to release sometime in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the musical talents of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as the leading ladies, the film excels in its production design and emotional storytelling. Bathed in shades of pink and green, \u201cWicked\u201d shows the importance of challenging what might be a societal norm and understanding the nuances of good and evil. Elphaba\u2019s journey, for example, from outcast to Wicked Witch shows how society\u2019s perceptions and labels of someone can change their identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWicked\u201d has also smashed box office records. With a United States opening of $114 million and a worldwide opening of $50.2 million, it is currently the biggest opening ever for a film based on a Broadway show, as well as the third-highest earning premier weekend of 2024. The original cast recording has broken records, as well, with \u201cDefying Gravity\u201d and \u201cPopular\u201d racking up a combined 7.8 million streams within the first three days of its release. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rounding out the cast is Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz, Johnathan Bailey as Fiyero and Ethan Slater as Boq. All actors will reprise their roles when \u201cWicked: Part Two\u201d is released, though some will be in different forms. Bailey and Slater\u2019s characters Fiyero and Boq are set to become the Scarecrow and the Tinman, two of Dorothy\u2019s companions in the iconic \u201cThe Wizard of Oz.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my opinion, \u201cWicked\u201d is an adaptation worthy of being seen. Between its well-rounded cast, a live soundtrack and allegorical messages, it is a film that can be enjoyed by all, whether one is typically a fan of musicals or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu Written by: Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor Content warning: This article contains spoilers \u201cWicked\u201d has officially hit theaters. Fan excitement for the movie skyrocketed in the spring of 2023 when first-look pictures were released. Filming had started the year prior, but was halted from July to November due to the Screen Actors Guild strike. Being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4979,4965,4981,4974,4970,4238,4975,1593,4964,4234,4980,4963,4972,4971,4976,213,2175,4955,4967,4968,4977,4969,3804,4966,4973,4978],"class_list":["post-21885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-ariana-grande","tag-boq","tag-cynthia-erivo","tag-defying-gravity","tag-dorothy","tag-elphaba","tag-ethan-slater","tag-film","tag-fiyero","tag-galinda","tag-glinda-the-good","tag-jeff-goldblum","tag-johnathan-bailey","tag-madame-morrible","tag-michelle-yeoh","tag-movie","tag-musical","tag-oz","tag-popular","tag-ruby-slippers","tag-scarecrow","tag-tin-man","tag-wicked","tag-wicked-witch-of-the-west","tag-wizard-of-oz","tag-wonderful-wizard-of-oz"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21885"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21890,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21885\/revisions\/21890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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