I Saw "Wicked" Today and Was...Underwhelmed

Well these kinds of shows are never Puccini or Strauss, are they?

Even Thr Critical Drinker, a MAGA-adjacent Scotsman who reviews movies and tv shows, had to admit he kind of liked it.

(BTW I watch him because he’s very entertaining, not because I always agree with him.)

Yes Galinda was supposed to be a mean girl, Elpheba is the odd girl who Galinda eventually befriends.

It's half of a musical stretched out to a full length picture and it shows.

Cynthia is the better actress of the two and it's noticeable, but Ariana did better than I expected.

My take on the original musical is that it has a few good songs and that's about it, so this longer version was not my cuppa.

Did Elpheba have a disabled sister in the play, or was that something that was added for the movie?

[quote] But of course, now I'm going to have to see Part 2 to find out what happens after Cynthia Erivo goes flying away on her broom.

I'll spare you the misery:

SPOILERS

She fights the Wizard and in the process becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. She becomes unglued when Dorothy arrives in the tornado from Kansas that kills her sister, especially because Glinda gives Dorothy her sister's jeweled shoes. She becomes unhealthily obsessed with getting the shoes back, but then Dorothy throws water at her, and she pretends that she melts, but actually she escapes to fuck Fiyero, who becomes the Scarecrow, as much as she wants while everyone thinks she's been destroyed. Also, the frightened lion cub from Part 1 comes back as the Cowardly Lion, and Boq becomes the Tin Man.

There's also a whole bunch of songs.

[quote] Did Elpheba have a disabled sister in the play,

Yes.

They're making a part 2? No, just no.

R8 I believe it's already been made. They're just going to wait to release it until next year.

I've had sufficient.

I'm fucking sick to death of hearing about this "film" and Anorexiana Grande and Cynthia "the Bull" Everio and their bullshit PR tour where they pretend that this movie is some God-given gift to everyone, and we should all "hold space" for it and its "message."

Get OVER yourselves!

[quote]R5: Did Elpheba have a disabled sister in the play, or was that something that was added for the movie?

[quote]R7: Yes.

So did the book.

Armless Nessarose is the way the story re-imagines the Wicked Witch of the East.

I will never see this film or its sequel, at least not voluntarily (some things are culturally inescapable, and there's a likelihood that my best friend may make me watch it, 'tho I can assure you it will be under strong protest). You see, I believe that not everything is cut out to be a musical. I was a fan of Gregory Maguire's original book, and had hoped for a straightforward adaptation of it, but that is not ever going to happen now.

It kind of felt like Cynthia Erivo's character was the Emerald City version of Carrie. I kept waiting for her to lock up everyone at Shiz University with her mind, then set 'em all on fire.

I read the book longer before seeing the show.

I preferred the book to the show.

Does the movie end with Defying Gravity - does it break at roughly the same point between Act I and II?

R14 Yes, the movie ends with Defying Gravity as Cynthia flies away on her broom.

I enjoyed the book back when I read it but it didn’t stay with me. I couldn’t tell you a thing about it today except that it’s much darker than the show. It was the main reason I resisted the play for years, which felt to bubblegum by comparison. That and I couldn’t stand the idea of being surrounded by superfans.

I enjoyed the film more than I expected. Some fun moments and good performances. It will never be my favorite musical, but it feels right for the times. I need to see it again but looking back, though I wouldn’t call it boring, not a whole lot happens for such a lengthy film.

I've seen the musical twice and love it but I am not interested in the film

Apparently, I'm never going to see the movie because it's likely going to stream on Peacock.

I'm not paying for Peacock just to watch this movie.

OP - you only saw half of it. That's why. The other half comes out next year.

[Quote] Then there's Bowen Yang, who simply brings his lame SNL queen schtick to the big screen. A useless character that does nothing to propel the story along. Whose dick did he suck to get that part?

every one that cock hog could get

[quote]The other half comes out next year.

Even if there is a second part, every movie should have a beginning, middle, and end.

It just means it's a poorly structured story if it doesn't.

As I said in the other Wicked thread. I'm not a Broadway gay, and I don't like or understand musicals; they're silly to me. I went to his film because my friends wanted to go, and I thought it was a great way to get a large popcorn and a Pepsi and not feel guilty about the calories.

I enjoyed the movie, despite myself. I thought it was well done and that Cynthia Erivo was amazing from beginning to end. In the final act, I couldn't take my eyes off her.

I've decided that many on DL who hate this movie hate it because they hate Cynthia Erivo and don't particularly care for Grande, but their true hate is for Erivo for whatever reason. Some suggest that DL hates black actresses (which seems to be a running theme if you've been around here long enough), and others seem to think she's entitled. I don't know or care, and I will not spend time trying to decipher the various motives of a bunch of anonymous people on a message board. She's just great in the movie; she makes the movie for me.

They should have had Liza cameo

One short day in the Emerald Shitty...

I’ve seen clips on YouTube and thought Arianna Grande looked and sounded so freaky that she almost didn’t look human. I had never heard of Cynthia Erivo before but from what I saw she was amazing.

[quote] my best friend may make me watch it, 'tho I can assure you it will be under strong protest

You don’t have any friends, but nice try. Although given your predilection toward fan fiction, it is no surprise that you have conjured up an imaginary friend.

R13, agreed. I thought Elphaba was just Green Carrie White.

I feel like from here to eternity Bowen Yang should always be referred to as “Wicked star Bowen Yang,” just as a joke. I doubt he’ll have much to do in the second part since Bailey turns out to be the Scarecrow, doesn’t Boq turn out to be the Tin Man and we’ve already seen the cowardly lion cub.

The music was the worst part. Especially since the music in the original, by Harold Arlen, is so amazing. I mean it was SO bad. Has Stephen Schwartz never heard Optimistic Voices? It was embarrassing the shit music they used at the Emerald City. Did he write all the lyrics too? What a bunch of pablum.

I thought it was supposed to be like this girl power story but Ariana Grande sold out Elphaba quicker than Sponge Bob sold out his wife! I didn’t understand why she was siding with the Wizard at the end and from the looks on Grande’s face, neither did she. The character didn’t make a lot of sense. Her big number, Popular, didn’t work without an audience and two decades on, that number still belongs to Kristin Chenoweth - her light comedic touch with it is always what made it work. Rather insanely, every Galinda since then has felt compelled to do more but none of them can compete with her version.

Would non-Americans enjoy WICKED if they had no knowledge of the Wizard of Oz?

You can really tell Erivo and Grande went off the rails during the Wicked press tour because what the fuck were they going on about all of their crying and hand-holding? The PRs must’ve just been like, “O-kay.” The movie is not that deep. They’re not even Thelma & Louise.

Well R30, the international box office is lagging over 20 percentage points behind Barbie so that might be your answer.

I don’t think it has the “event” appeal internationally that it appears to have domestically.

R11 You might need to relax. Self project much?

R30 As a fellow non-American, I understand your point. I know what the Wizard of Oz is but have never seen it. It just doesn't have the same cultural impact outside of the US. Americans get REALLY angry when you point this out.

Isnt the director asian? gay? Maybe that’s why Bowen Yang thing? jus sayin…

a musical most suitable for the deaf.

[quote]I know what the Wizard of Oz is but have never seen it. It just doesn't have the same cultural impact outside of the US. Americans get REALLY angry when you point this out.

I cannot believe you have never sought out the freaking Wizard of Oz. It blows my mind. It's one of the most incredible, important and crucially most magical movies of all time.

I'm REALLY angry, R34.

I didn't like, at all, either of the female leads in the film. They both sang the score fine, but they are both very humorless young women and for me that came through in spades. My audience didn't laugh once at anything they did. There are a lot of really very funny lines in the musical's book, for Elphaba as well as Galinda, but if you hadn't seen the stage show you'd have had no idea.

The design is brilliant and for the most part the filming is terrific (the way the camera moves through shots, the filming of the finale, etc). The techos have taken real care with the story, all the way down to the wig mistress pointing out that the blond streaks in Fiyero's hair happen to echo the pattern in his jacket, "but we were always going to do blond streaks because of his story arc".

I have one question. Did I fall asleep, or did they omit the rainstorm in the Enchanted Wood in which we, and Fiyero, see Elphaba survive getting wet? Surely that's a key scene?

R22 I'm truly interested in what you thought was so riveting about Cynthia Erivo's performance.

I thought she did a fine job, but I wasn't blown away by her performance. I didn't find anything particularly memorable about it.

R38 There wasn't a scene with a rainstorm in the Enchanted Wood. There was a scene at the beginning where it rains at Shiz University, but that's it.

I wrote this in another Wicked thread. It was way too long. They could have shaved off an hour (too much exposition was frontloaded) and not really damaged the film.

I thought the last, I don't know, forty minutes were the strongest. Everything that takes place in the Emerald City made the film worth it to me. The flying monkey scene was enchanting; it's the closest Wicked came to matching the charm of the 1939 film. But the entire film lacked charm.

The political message was far too unsubtle. I felt like I was being hit over the head, repeatedly. That also made it less enjoyable.

One small detail I appreciated what the title card, which very consciously matched the style of the title card of the 1939 film.

Loved it - was fun. But, I went into it not with my mind made up to hate it, like some people.

I thought it was ok. Ariana did a fairly decent impression of Kristen Chenoweth.

Are there any truly memorable songs other than Defying Gravity? I do love that song but even it is lyrically awkward.

The cameos by Edina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth were awkward. They both looked like Beverly Hills plastic surgery victims

R45 PopUlar

It's the best musical about 35-ywar-olds in college you'll see this year!

R48 It's like "Grease" in the Land of Oz!

How does Michelle Yeoh continue to get cast in major motion pictures?

The woman can't act. She can only stand and pose and sound imperious.

Michelle Yeoh does mean very well imo.

I didn't mind Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh is Bitch Supreme

Ariana Grande kept the theater laughing the hole way through at the showing I saw r38

R54 When I saw it, the audience was almost completely silent throughout the movie. There were a couple of sporadic chuckles at some of Ariana's lines, but that was about it.

R55 Sounds like Lucas admired the film's technical accomplishments.

Wicked has outgrossed every Harry Potter film in the US. That's amazing!

I was in a rather empty theater when I saw it, r56, but I noticed the same thing. Very few audible laughs even at the ostensibly funny parts.

I did jump at the one jump scare, which I felt was unnecessary.

I love how all the haters who said that Wicked would flop look like idiots now.

It is good and entertaining, R58, but maybe Wicked is just competing against what is currently available. R60, I am not saying Wicked is that at all but even you know what floats.

But, but OP! In the other thread, there was a standing ovation in every single theater in every town and city that every poster had attended! I just thought it was my lone city where the theater was half full, there was no applause or standing ovation when it was over.

Deriving an identity around things you don’t like is a sure ticket to becoming a sour, unhappy person. Especially when you feed off the negative energy generated by hating things that most people like.

Creating something on your own or appreciating what others create reveals far more about you.

My favorite is the one mentioning that it is not doing as well as Barbie in foreign markets. The only one comparing this moving to Barbie is that poster. The movie has done well. And the people who like to mention that their theaters were quiet during the film, maybe you live in an area without a lot of Wicked fans, teen girls, and gays.

I don't understand what the big deal is. If you hated Wicked, have no intention of seeing it, etc, why not just leave those who do enjoy it alone?

r64 the theater was completely silent in Pasadena, CA.

everyone killed themselves in my theatre. such a mess.

R67 😆

Michelle Yeoh is brilliance personified. It's nothing but an extreme honor to be in her presence.

How did Elphaba know how to recite a spell to help herself fly? A few minutes earlier, when she read out the spell to give the monkeys wings, she didn't even understand what she was saying.

Although I live alone, I can't wait to see the reaction in my bedroom when I stream it!

R70 That made no sense to me, either. And it seemed the monkeys weren't too happy about suddenly sprouting wings, so I'm not sure how they were all suddenly on Elphaba's side and flew away with her.

R63 Deep thoughts.

The basic plot of Wicked is that Elphaba shows the most potential so she is brought to the wizard since he has no magic himself, but she does not agree with the impression of the talking animals. In the play the talking goat has a much bigger role. The wizard's advisor declares her wicked because she won't do what they want. So they turn to their only other option, Elpaba;s sister Nessa Rose, tries to use Magic on Boq but shrinks his heart. She begs Elphab to save him so she uses a spell and it turns him into the Tin man (if I only had a heart). She gave Nessa the shoes so she could walk, which is why she is so mad when Glinda gives them to Dorothy. The Lion she saves becomes the cowardly lion. When Fiero is fighting the Wizard's soldiers she uses a spell to make it so he cannot die, turning him into the scarecrow At the end Glinda and Elphaba hatch a plan to let her escape. The melting water scene. Elphaba and Glinda have one last moment together (singing For Good). Elphaba gives Glinda the Grimoire (book of magic) and leaves to be with Fieyro, The end. Oh turns out Elphaba is the Wizards' daughter.

My god my spelling mistakes! - but you get the jist.

Is the novel worth reading?

There is a trilogy I think, Definitely an interesting take on Oz

[quote] I cannot believe you have never sought out the freaking Wizard of Oz. It blows my mind. It's one of the most incredible, important and crucially most magical movies of all time.

[quote]I'm REALLY angry, [R34].

Call out the emergency repairman! Mary's Judy-o-meter has just EXPLODED!!

Reminder that Elphaba and Glinda are overemoting “For Good” while Dorothy is one floor down crying “I’m frightened, Auntie Em.”

Bowen Yang is last year's token gay. But they don't know his expiration date has passed.

I thought it sucked. Except for Jonathan Bailey. Songs weren't memorable. And there's a Part Two? No thanks.

Thanks r77. I recently saw the first novel in an airport bookstore and almost purchased it. Bought this instead. Just started The Emerald City of Oz.

I remember how excited I was to read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz when I was 5 or 6. It was so different from the MGM film.

Wicked has now outgrossed Jurassic World Dominion, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Finding Nemo, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in the US.

I just bought the first novel.

The paid advertisers who kept claiming that the movie made them cry and that it was the best ever were way over the top--but it was fun enough

I just rewatched Wicked in a packed theater almost a month after its release. Not only does the movie hold up extremely well on repeat viewings but my audience was fully engaged. No one was on their phones and everyone had a smile on their face. This movie is special.

Chick flick. Pass.

r82 there were several Baum OZ books - not just Wizard of Oz, but Ozma, the Tin woodsman, scarecrow, one about the emerald city.

Loved the movie - visually striking and the two leads held their own.

BUT don't go to see the Broadway production. I hated it, especially for one incredibly stupid moment (that should have been an act-ending show-stopper).

I ranted, "They can send a man to the moon. They can dive to the deepest depths of the ocean. They can split atoms. But they CAN'T FLY THE FUCKIN' WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST!!!!!"

Defying Gravity sung on a ladder draped in black cloth just doesn't cut it.

The Broadway production I saw was superior to the movie minus the cgi filled final scenes because obviously you can’t do that on a stage

I wish they would re-release the 1939 Oz with updated special f/x, CGI, etc.

R83, why would a non-musical Spider-Man cartoon be a good comp for Wicked, Part One? And you keep quoting domestic box office and ignoring that the international box office fell another 4 points this week. These blockbusters make a majority of their revenue at the international box office.

And R64, the entire industry has used the Barbie comp for Wicked - do you think 6 months worth of promotion culminating in at least 3 weeks of non-stop Wicked marketing with every combination of principal and supporting actor plus all the creatives, plus those huge lobby installations and themed drinks and all that public advertising comes for free? That marketing spend was probably more than the average 50% of the production budget - and they’ll do it all again next year. More spend. Studios don’t spend that kind of money unless they want to crack at least $1B worldwide. They definitely want to see Barbie numbers. Right now, the revenue the studio is seeing is about $285M - that’s nearing the production cost of both films, estimated to be “around” $300M, but I suspect post-production continues on For Good so that can’t be a final number. We definitely saw more than $100M marketing on Wicked; the marketing on Barbie which was a comparable inescapable blitz was confirmed to be $150M. That’s 150% of Barbie’s actual production budget. The Wicked spend could be equal to that at $150M or…up to $225M. So contrary to Optimistic Voices from The Wizard of Oz, they’re not quite out of the woods yet.

You fan gurls are such delicate flowers, everyone has to feel the same uncritical way you do or they’re your enemy. But let me tell you, when a piece of popular culture comes along that blankets every media outlet to the point of oppression, we’re allowed to have any conversation we want about it. The marketing for this Wicked film has been an absolute cultural steamroller - trying to convince us of its life-changing greatness, promoting that the entire LGBT+ community is “holding space” for Defying Gravity, with its stars indulging in all kinds of maudlin antics, etc. - that we have a right to scrutinise its corporate aims including its claims of box office success. Because you better believe, in order for it to be worth it, Wicked, Part One needs to do Barbie numbers and right now, despite the global rollout and marketing spend, the math ain’t mathing. Wicked is underperforming overseas, which bodes even worse for a Part Two next year. Ironically, in its own parlance, the Wicked movie is not defying gravity.

Hugs to you as you cry this out.

R74, it sounds like such a soap opera. I think I prefer just an episode of Bewitched.

They even tried to make “Glicked” happen, hoping for a mutually beneficial “Barbenheimer” uptake and I don’t think Wicked was the equivalent of Oppenheimer in that pairing. (Duh. In that equation it was supposed to be Barbie.)

I HATE the book it was based on, and I fundamentally dislike the films storyline. And it was very padded. As for this production, I admire all the artistry at every level, yet ... everything feels AI and emotionally saccharine, like an over enthusiastic elementary school play. Campy without the fun. I found Ariana and her extensive physical and plastic transformations very disturbing and distracting.

Tbh the whole backstory to the Wizard of Oz just sounds so stupid to me. I've never been interested in watching the play.

[quote]I wish they would re-release the 1939 Oz with updated special f/x, CGI, etc.

This sounds like my own private circle of Dante's Inferno.

Why would we fuck with one of the greatest (in my opinion, the greatest -- MARY!!!) films in American cinema history?

It's like "touching up" Shakespeare's Sonnets or Liszt's Transcendental Études.

r88 actually, when I was in high school, I found some of the old Oz books (in later editions) in a secondhand bookstore and decided to read the entire series -- the Baum-authored ones, anyway. I made it through all the books that I could find, including The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, and The Road to Oz. This was before the internet (or at least, before I was using the internet for shopping), and so I gave up my quest when I couldn't find any more books.

It's nice to now read The Emerald City of Oz, which it's all new to me.

One thing I liked was the casting of Michelle Yeoh. Her performance was much more understated than that of the Madame Morribles I've seen onstage, and it worked.

Agree, r99. I thought her performance was a highlight.

[quote]Wicked has now outgrossed Jurassic World Dominion, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Finding Nemo, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in the US.

Is the media is still pretending that WICKED is a smash hit even though the numbers don't add up?

6 weeks after release, WICKED has grossed $384 million domestic, which sounds impressive, but only $188 million foreign, with a total of $572 million.

Also, it had a production budget of $150 million, so it needed to cross $500 million to start making a profit, which it just did this past weekend.

But most likely, it won't cross $1 billion total, which it needed to in order to be a genuine hit.

It does not bode well for the sequel next year.

As for the aforementioned movies, this was their overall total compared to WICKED:

"FINDING NEMO" (2003) -- DOMESTIC: $339 million, FOREIGN: $531 foreign, TOTAL: $870 million

"LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING" (2003) -- DOMESTIC: $377 million, FOREIGN: $741 million, TOTAL: $1.118 billion

"STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH" (2005) -- DOMESTIC: $380, FOREIGN: $470 million, TOTAL: $850 million

"JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION" (2025) -- DOMESTIC: $376, FOREIGN: $625, TOTAL: $1.001 billion

"SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE" (2023) -- DOMESTIC: $381 million, FOREIGN: $309 million, TOTAL: $690 million

In the case of FINDING NEMO ($339 million), RETURN OF THE KING (377 million), and REVENGE OF THE SITH ($380 million), you have to consider inflation.

Thus, their respective domestic grosses in 2024 would be FINDING NEMO ($576 million), RETURN OF THE KING ($641 million), REVENGE OF THE SITH ($604 million).

r101 are your figures adjusted for inflation? Just curious.

Wicked deserves to make more money than the repulsive Barbie movie. It was far superior even with its flaws.

Now, still very early and things might change during the evening at US #BoxOffice, but right now #Wicked is challenging #Mufasa on MON grosses. Just INSANE, considering that #Wicked is on its 5th MON, with almost 1.000 less theatres and barely no PLF.

Holiday boost already in full swing and Wicked should be the blockbuster benefiting the most, potentially with the best hold from SUN if things remain on the current pace. Let’s see how the evening will play out though.

This week has it all to be CRAZY and unexpected!

[quote] Other than that, there wasn't a single hummable tune in the film.

That was my criticism of the stage musical 20 years ago. Apparently, that is no longer required for a smash hit musical.

What difference does it make if someone can hum a tune on the first listen? As Sondheim pointed out, people will hum a tune when it is repeated over and over.

The Broadway musical Wicked is a two-act show. This movie adaption has been made into two parts, the one out now, which is Broadway Act One ending with Elphaba’s big song Defying Gravity. The next film out will be Broadway Act Two. Hang on for the girls’ duet, the big song, For Good.

Adam McKay:

On a pure storytelling level Wicked Part 1 is right up there as one of the most radical big studio Hollywood movies ever made.

I know Part 2 swings back to the center a bit but Part 1 is nakedly about radicalization in the face of careerism, fascism, propaganda.

‘Don’t Look Up’ director Adam McKay says he “wouldn’t be surprised” if ‘Wicked’ will be banned in the next few years due to where America is headed for politically.

In both r108 and r109, Adam McKay sounds like a MARY!!!!

R2 I stopped watching Drinker when he edited a scene in Glass Onion 2 and lied about it, making it seem like Rian Johnson had made this huge mistake. Also, the scene was woke of course.

I can only assume he knew 85% of his audience hadn’t seen it.

He’s just another grifter and his novels are subpar.

IM SICK OF BOTH OF THOSE PINK/GREEN TWATS!

Please don't burn your house down!

Grande reminded me of how Paris Hilton must be.

OP “Was Glinda (pardon me - Galinda) supposed to be a narcissistic pain in the ass?

I didn't find any of the musical numbers memorable”

OP you didn’t study irony in school did ya?

Did you go to school at all?

Live it or hate it the big number is an ear-worm. (That means “catchy number btw…)

R115 You didn't study spelling, grammar, or punctuation in school, did ya?

"Live it" or hate it, the movie was a snooze.

[quote]Americans get REALLY angry when you point this out.

No we don't. You made that up.

Of all the things Americans are insecure about, our cultural domination of the West is not one of them.

[quote] Part 1 is nakedly about radicalization in the face of careerism, fascism, propaganda.

What the fuck does this even mean?

He sounds like an idiot.

R92, You will have to cite sources, hunny. Nobody can conclude anything from your post except that you are a fantasist and a blowhard.

[quote]That marketing spend [bold]was probably[/bold] ...

[quote]They [bold]definitely want[/bold] ...

[quote]... [bold]is estimated[/bold] to be “around” $300M

[quote][bold]I suspect[/bold] post-production continues ...

[quote]... so that [bold]can’t be[/bold] a final number

[quote][bold]We definitely saw[/bold] more than $100M marketing

All in service of a definitive conclusion: "That’s 150% of Barbie’s actual production budget."

Well, no hunny. You will have to cite sources. Because to me, it looks like you just made up a bunch of shit off the top of your head.

Nice try, though.

Blocked.

Oh thank gawd you blocked me, R119. Now I can post in peace without your pissy, idiotic “special people’s club” responses.

‘Wicked’ starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande now ranks among the top 50 highest-grossing films of all-time at the domestic box office.

But to hear R119 from Dubuque tell it, Wicked is a massive flop!

What an interesting point of view, R117.

R116 Hun, I sent that message on the john having a shit and couldn’t be bothered correcting Apple’s retarded Southern-Californian coders’ soi-disant “spelling” autofills ‘cos you’re simply not worth it.

R34 - I don't know about other countries, but here in the UK, The Wizard of Oz is one of those films that virtually everyone has seen. Everyone's heard "Over the Rainbow". References to the film are used in everyday life (i.e. comparing an unpleasant boss to the Wicked Witch of the West). "Friend of Dorothy" is well-known slang for a gay man (although that phrase actually originated in the US). It's also the only American story that ever gets performed as a pantomime.

r125 I'm an American, and it is kind of fascinating how much the MGM film permeates American culture. I can't think of another film that is so quotable in everyday life -- "I'll get you my pretty!" "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" "I'm melting!" "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" "There's no place like home" [which did not originate with the film] etc etc etc.

It's also interesting that the most influential American film is about a conman.

R124 "'Cos" isn't a word...hun.

R127 Nor is bumfuck, bumfuck

I don’t have a vagina so don’t have any plans to see it.

R128 Oh, HUN...you're not very good at knowing when you're being mocked, do you?

It's hard to judge a movie after everyone else says it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's better to watch without those high expectations.

Sliced bread ain’t all that

R128 Erm…you’re just plain trolling, which is totally fine by me, but it is pretty obvious…

You’re hardly Oscar Wilde…

R125 I'm also in the UK, and try using those references to someone under 45 and you'll struggle. You might find they've heard of the film, but it's unlikely they've actually watched it.

r88 I am tempted to purchase this boxed set.

As of today, the movie is #6 on the list of 2024's worldwide box office. Interesting that Inside Out 2 is #1.

For anyone interested, Wicked will be available to stream for $29.99 on Amazon Prime Dec 31st.

Everything is now the same formulaic bullshit. No wonder on one goes to the cinema. At least at home, you can turn the SHIT off.

[quote]I cannot believe you have never sought out the freaking Wizard of Oz. It blows my mind. It's one of the most incredible, important and crucially most magical movies of all time.

It's literally none of those things.

Is the second movie made already? What happens if one of the lead twats Karen-Carpenters herself before it's finished?

R141 Yes, it's already been made.

I loved it I've seen it 5 times.. It's better than the stage version and I love the stage version. When the movie came out, pretty much everyone who saw it raved about it and now, inevitably, here comes the backlash. Even more backlash when it comes to streaming. It's meant to be seen a huge screen with a big audience. At home, people will be more critical. So predictable. It will win the Oscar for Best Picture though. I'd bet $500 on it.

r136- Wicked is 3rd domestically though. Has it been released everywhere worldwide yet?

R143 5 times?

Oh, Lord.

R144 No idea where it's been released outside of the U.S.

r101- I think you're wrong. Frozen 2 grossed more than Frozen. I think that's good evidence that Wicked 2 will gross more than Wicked.

Defying Gravity!

Just 2 days after Christmas Day, ‘Wicked: The Soundtrack’ returns to #1 on Apple Music UK albums 🇬🇧

20th non-consecutive day at #1

Wicked has now out-grossed FROZEN at the US box-office.

Wicked, still soft overseas.

R149 keep spinning!

FROZEN (2013) ultimately grossed $1.280 billion total ($400 million domestic + $880 foreign) on a budget of $150 million.

Adjusted for inflation, that's $1.725 billion total ($539 domestic + $1.186 billion foreign) on a budget of $202 million.

Meanwhile, after six weeks, WICKED (2024) has grossed $593 million total ($405 million domestic + $188 million foreign) on a budget of $150 million.

Thus, it has barely recouped.

And its grosses have gone down weekly, so it doesn't look like it's going to cross $1 billion, which was the goal.

[quote][R101]- I think you're wrong. Frozen 2 grossed more than Frozen. I think that's good evidence that Wicked 2 will gross more than Wicked.

Apples and oranges.

FROZEN was a huge hit worldwide, making most of its gross overseas.

Despite WICKED's impressive domestic gross, it's not enough to make it a blockbuster.

Because of its big budget, it really needed the foreign gross, which remains paltry.

[Quote] Because of its big budget, it really needed the foreign gross, which remains paltry.

Maybe not R52 I suspect it will make a killing on home digital bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars. It's still in the top five box office and can be purchased for home viewing.

Universal’s Wicked, which will fly past the $400M mark this week at the domestic box office, has set a digital release in homes of Dec. 31. The Jon M. Chu directed Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande musical will be available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Comcast Xfinity, Cox and Microsoft movies.

For the weekend of 20 December, Wicked was #3 on the highest-grossing movies chart in Australia, behind Moana II and the newly released Mufasa movie. It had dropped 26% compared to the previous weekend, but Moana had dropped 34%. Its total gross so far here is $22 million, which is the same as Moana II and much higher than the next-nearest movie (Gladiator II), at $14 million. It has been out a week longer than Moana and a few days less than Gladiator.

It's not totally fair to compare Wicked with films like Frozen and Moana, because those are suitable for kids of pretty much all ages, whereas the cruelty to animals in Wicked is barring it to pre-tweens. Parents I know think their kids will not be able to understand the animals are only CGI and will be distressed, especially by the monkeys sprouting wings scene. Many already know the second half is even darker, and that factors in as well.

Kids' films are the ones that are going great guns at the cinema right now--the only ones that are hitting it out of the park with any consistency. Wicked has some of that benefit, but nowhere near as much as a Disney princess movie for the reason above.

‘Wicked’ starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande now ranks among the top 40 highest-grossing films of all-time at the domestic box office.

It has just surpassed Spider-Man, Jurassic Park, Iron Man3, Captain America and The Hunger Games.

I don't know why some of you bitches are so invested in Wicked's success/failure.

The movie's done well enough to get Ariana Grande cast in other film projects (good), as well as Cynthia Erivo (not so good).

Is the $150 million price tag for the first movie or both movies? If it's for both movies, this thing is making a TON of money back on its investment.

I've pretty much decided to rent it to stream on New Year's Eve.

I just bought the entire "Wicked Years" series. Hope to head them this spring.

closet case ben shapiro LOVED it!

R158 I think it's just the first movie.

Wicked surpassed Wonder Woman, Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story at the US box-office.

Top 10 BIGGEST 6th Weekends of ALL TIME:

1. Avatar

2. Top Gun Maverick

3. Titanic

4. Avatar: The Way Of Water

5. Wicked

Not even Barbie had such strength at this point.

R163 Oh, great. Now I'm gonna have to lose even more weight for the next movie.

The poster obsessed with box office comparisons seems like they have Autism

r164- It's already been filmed.

The Brigham Young University mascot doing Wicked dances at the football games.

One of the things that worked so well about the MGM film was the fact it had no fat (with the possible exception of "If I Were King of the Forest", which has grown in me since I was a child). Everything fits together tightly and perfectly, making its charm all the more effective. I think great credit is due to both the editors and the writers.

Wicked was too bloated for me. It detracted from its charm.

Yes R168–it was too long. As good as the final scene was, even that was too long and drawn out.

It’s sounding like Wicked is an appropriate term for the two singing stars?

R169 Tell me about it. Every time Elphaba would grab the broom and twirl her black coat, I was sure she was gonna fly away and the movie would finally be over.

But no, she'd pause and sing some more, prolonging the agony.

Ariana, Cynthia, Jonathan Bailey, and Jeff Goldblum are all going to be on Kelly Clarkson's show today.

I saw the previews and Ariana is looking even more frighteningly thin. She needs to get into a treatment center ASAP.

And Cynthia isn't too far behind, either. She's looking a bit emaciated, too.

I predict Ariana will take the Angelina route and look like that for the rest of her life. She loves the attention and how she looks.

R173 If she continues like this, the rest of her life will last about two more years.

Stop comparing it to "Barbie". "Barbie was a summer movie, a completely different animal. Christmas movies have holidays and kids still in school to slow the B.O. Many people will not go to the movies on holidays or the week before Xmas because they are shopping and planning their holiday where the summer is unhindered.

'Wicked' passes 'The Lion King' and 'Captain Marvel' to become the 33rd highest grossing film ever at the US box office.

R176 Are these figures adjusted for inflation?

I've made so much money off this movie, but I can't spend any of it on meals.

r171 I had the same reaction to the ending scene. In general, I thought that the scenes in the Emerald City were the strongest of the film, but even they struggled with pacing.

And I know that the film was based on the musical; but having not read the book, it's clear that a film is different from a musical, and a musical is different from a book. The MGM film made significant changes to the basic outline of the novel so that it would "work" best as a film. Wicked needed a similar intervention.

I enjoyed it well enough. However, unlike the rows and rows of former theater kids moaning in ecstasy around me I didn't find any of the songs impressive or memorable, including the much ballyhooed "Defying Gravity." Erivo's singing was fine, but didn't blow me away as it did in Bad Times at the El Royale. Grande's singing was a lot better than in her own music. Jonathan Bailey's big song & dance number captivated the whole audience, which was composed exclusively of women and gay men so I don't know how well received it would be by anyone not eager to jump his bones.

Biggest surprise to me was that Peter Dinklage appears to have vastly improved his British accent since 2018. I had no idea it was him voicing his character until the credits rolled.

R180 The Johnathan Bailey number was fine, but what bothered me about it was all the quick cuts and jumping around the camera did. Unlike the old school musicals, where the camera would remain fairly stationary so you could watch the performers dance, these days, it's all about jump cuts to cover up the fact that the performers really can't dance that well.

[quote] rows and rows of former theater kids moaning in ecstasy

Pics please.

Trust me, you wouldn't want a look at the crowd in my theater.

[quote] Well these kinds of shows are never Puccini or Strauss, are they?

Thank Heaven.

"The movie is not that deep. They’re not even Thelma & Louise."

Thelma and Louise was deep?

It won me an Oscar.

With the honourable exception of Westside Story and anything directed by the late Bob Fosse, I fookin' hate musicals (especially if they involve Andrew Lloyd Webber or Baz Luhrmann). One of the main reasons I choose to be straight acting and stay in the closet. There is a stereotype perpetuated about gay men being cultivated and sophisticated but in reality the vast majority of gay men relish things that are naff, camp and kitsch. I like Miles Davis, JS Bach, old skool hip hop, funk and neo soul and have to hang with straight cats who appreciate the same.

I read the book when it came out and liked it for its darker, grittier vision of Oz, but I never saw the stage musical. The movie didn’t really go there to any great extent, and it makes Elphaba out to be a lot more sympathetic a character than the book does. They should have thrown out all the music from the play and started fresh. Honestly, except for one or two songs in the movie (and that’s being generous), it was all shit.

Yeah, Wicked without the Broadway score would have been a huge hit.

[quote]However, unlike the rows and rows of former theater kids moaning in ecstasy around me I didn't find any of the songs impressive or memorable, including the much ballyhooed "Defying Gravity."

Can't you picture R180 gently dabbing the tears of joy away with a lace handkerchief listening to "Finishing The Hat" listening to his "Sunday In The Park With George" original cast album.

Top 4 BIGGEST 6th MONDAY of ALL TIME in US:

1. TopGun Maverick

2. Wicked

3. ToyStory 2

4. Frozen 2

I am getting autistic vibes from the box office troll.

I’m getting Jamie Gumb vibes from the box office troll.

I am watching it finally and I am also underwhelmed.

It is not filmic and often has the quality of one of the live musicals NBC was doing last decade where they were constrained by the technical aspects of multicamera broadcasting.

My opinion is that it’s because of the lighting. That the cinematography is washed out and overlit has been a complaint since the trailer - what I didn’t realize is how much it makes it look like a television program or taped theater performance. Because when they light for those, they have to overlight everything.

The filmic quality I usually associate with good movie musicals comes from lighting and staging that make it feel immersive. The Mambo from Spielberg’s West Side Story is probably the best musical number in 20 years. A single shot at 5:30 begins with a tracing shot moving left to right (at ground level!) and then the camera moves FORWARD between the two lines of dancers. You feel like you are within the movie instead of just looking at it. I don’t get that from Wicked. I also think the low-key lighting and heavy shadows contribute to the idea of texture and weight that an overlit production uses.

Finally, the music is terrible. It just is. It sounds like music that would have been composed by a writer of jingles.

I would be surprised if it wins Best Picture or Director. The quality is just not there. I’m seeing The Brutalist next week at the Chinese Theater so I hope that one lives up to its expectations.

I streamed it on TV tonight. I can see how people would love it. I got bored five minutes in. I could pick it apart but that would just offend people who enjoyed it. I do think it was made for people who already saw the show, which I didn't.

This is why you don’t hire a woman cinematographer, people!

The Brutalist

$10 million budget

Looks immaculate because they hired a cinematographer who knows what he’s doing

Wicked

$150 million budget

Looks like a television production

The Brutalist wins Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, and Original Screenplay

Wicked wins the two ladies and a handful of below the lines.

I tried to watch it, just out of curiosity. It's terrible.

If I watch it again, I'm going to wait until it's about two hours in.

Oliver Stone, the three-time Oscar-winning director, has chosen Wicked as the best film of 2024.

“Wow! I had never heard of these two actresses before, but what a surprise to find their performances so fresh and different. Ariana Grande is a wonder, a darling with her sparkling eyes – who, I wonder, could have given birth to such an enchanting fairytale creature? And Cynthia Erivo brings a depth and intelligence to Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of Oz, which is very moving!”

— Oliver Stone

R200 Oliver Stone has been afflicted with dementia for some time now.

[quote]I tried to watch it, just out of curiosity. It's terrible.

Of course it is, Dear.

Agreed, R195. That’s what I thought. It’s probably exactly the movie that people who love Wicked wanted.

A swing and a miss, R190. I'm not an ancient theatre queen. The last musical I was excited to see was Rocketman. "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" and "Take Me to the Pilot" are more my speed.

I skipped it because I hate having media rammed down my throat when I don’t want it.

OMG! The screams last night!

Pretty soon she'll be in Eugenia Cooney territory.

[quote]Basically, she looks like a minty car seat.

At times it seemed Grande was channeling Susan Lucci as Erica Kane on the defunct daytime soap All My Children.

[quote]At times it seemed Grande was channeling Susan Lucci as Erica Kane on the defunct daytime soap All My Children.

Good. She can channel Susan Lucci’s losing streak too.

Is a visible chest bone the new visible rib cage?

I saw it in NYC first before my trip to The Netherlands and Germany for the holidays,

I went to a showing in Haarlem (outside Amsterdam) where the film was totally dubbed into Dutch (both dialogue and songs) which is apparently very unusual in that country. There were about forty little girls and their mothers/aunts in attendance. The synchronization was almost perfect, most likely because many of our words are similar to Dutch ones and our sentence structures are somewhat similar. Elphaba was voiced by Gaia Aikman (she played the title role in Aida over there) and Galinda by Vajen van den Bosch (she’s just played Elsa in Frozen). Both were quite wonderful.The Dutch voice for Fiyero was someone named Jim Bakkum who went from the equivalent of American Idol to a major pop career. His rendition of “Dancing Through Life” actually sounded sexier than Bailey’s.

A few weeks later I went to see it in Munich. Again there were about forty little girls with their mothers/aunts but I sat right behind a dad and his two little girls. Dubbing in Germany is much more common than in The Netherlands and they’ve got it down to a fine art. I remembered how great the dubbing was for the Spielberg remake of West Side Story I’d seen a few years earlier. In both countries there were attempts to translate printed words which appeared on screen, like the posters announcing Elphaba’s death. In Germany, though, I heard the characters say they went to Gliz University, not Shiz. I chuckled, assuming this was changed because Shiz sounds too close to “scheisse,” the German word for shit. But the monogram sewn onto the students’ school uniforms was still an S, not a G. Heh heh. I guess the budget didn’t carry far enough to get them to make that correction.

The two audiences I saw it with seemed to enjoy it. I did notice the dad in front of me shift a little in his seat from what seemed like discomfort when Dr. Dillamont was arrested by Gestapo type officers.

Wicked had enormously popular stage productions in both The Netherlands and Germany but those were at least ten years ago, it’s true that The Wizard of Oz just isn’t on their cultural radar. I think the box office will increase there, though, especially for the OV (original version) showings. Ariana Grande is a big star over there, too.

Fascinating post, r212. Thanks!

I was a Wicked agnostic (I can’t stand Kristin Chenowith’s perky schtick) and went into the movie a blank slate. I really enjoyed it. The screenplay could have been stronger and the camera work more sophisticated but it gave me a great old fashioned movie experience. I loved the performances (ok, Bowen Yang was dull) and the characters were quite relatable, even Boq, who I could imagine being played as a misunderstood creep.

I liked it better than eating pussy.

‘Wicked’ starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande now ranks among the top 30 highest-grossing films of all-time at the domestic box office.

Cue the foreign box office slash Wicked is a complete failure, and here are all of my unsourced and vague conclusions to back up my point, troll.

I think Wicked will sweep the Golden Globes tonight, and Cynthia is a lock for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy.

Let's see if she says something mind blowingly stupid or career ending when she gives her acceptance speech.

[quote]Cue the foreign box office slash Wicked is a complete failure, and here are all of my unsourced and vague conclusions to back up my point, troll.

He hasn't opened everywhere yet. It hasn't even opened in Japan YET.

'Wicked: For Good' is going to be the 'Terms of Endearment' of this generation.

R220 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I sat through the first film for nearly 3 hours and wasn't a bit moved emotionally, other than being elated when the whole experience was finally over.

You sound like a drag.

It will be huge in Japan. The stage production is constantly done over there and god knows they love pink shit.

I didn't approve of any of this..

I am by no means a musicologist or a musical theater aficionado. (But I do like music of almost any genre.)

I was listening to the Wicked soundtrack last night, and I realized I don't like it because it isn't melodic enough. I took music theory in high school, and I whenever I hear "Maria" from West Side Story, I think about augmented fourths. Despite some decided risks, though, Bernstein kept that score melodic enough to be enjoyable.) A lot of Wicked's songs just sound too heavy on the recitative ... they never get off the ground.

From THR today:

“ Universal’s top Golden Globes nominee Wicked rounded out the top five with $10.2 million for a domestic total of $450.7 million. Through Sunday, its foreign total is an estimated $230.5 million for a global cume of $681.3 million (the stage play isn’t so well known in non-English speaking territories).”

R225 that’s funny because the day after I watched Wicked a couple of days ago - thinking how much I didn’t like the music - “Maria” came on the streaming music channel and I thought to myself “THAT is what a musical should sound like.”

Great minds, r227!

No, great music

It's been said there's only one memorable melody in all of "Wicked," and that's the very short Wiz-O-Mania part ("Who's the mage whose major itinerary is making all Oz merrier?") of "One Short Day" that was consciously meant by Schwartz to be a throwback gesture towards old-fashioned musicals. It's the only tune from the show that ever comes readily to my mind.

Oh how many fun evenings I had at the "A Little Night Music" sing-a-long screenings.

R231, the crowd I was with relished the rhymes “cigar butt” and “bizarre, but…” during “You Must Meet My Wife.”

The thing about Wicked is that many of this thread’s same criticisms were voiced at the time of the show. Everyone in the industry was very “meh” about it. Expectations were high and the earliest consensus was that the show didn’t meet them, much less exceed. It grew into a hit because of tourist familiarity, family friendliness, a few select moments that were visually and audibly stunning, and a lot of marketing dollars from Universal (investors from the start). The show has had some big flaws, major dragging sections, and clumsy aspects from the jump.

*at the time of the show’s 2003 opening, I should have clarified.

The show grew into a hit, R233, because women genuinely love it and do not experience "major dragging sections and clumsy aspects". That's what this board has so much trouble dealing with. It's a show about women, and particularly the way they relate to and from where they derive power. The hot man is barely even a plot-point, in that all of the divisions between Elphaba and Glinda at the point where Part 1 of the movie ends are regardless of Fiyero (since Glinda doesn't yet know he's interested in Elphaba).

A lot of the songs sounded like recitative to me when I first heard the OBC recording, but after the third play their form seems to click into place and in fact many of those tunes are earworms. The same was true of Pippin and The Magic Show. Living far from Broadway, I always have to experience new shows through their recordings, which is quite a different experience from seeing a show once and complaining you couldn't hum the tunes.

It's ludicrous to use WSS, as several people here have, as the benchmark of what a musical needs to sound like to be acceptable. Bernstein was a classical and jazz composer, whose creative process was assisted by arguably the world's top lyricist and choreographer, so that score is more like the top branch on the Broadway musical tree than the line below which a composer has failed. Apart from his own Candide, the only score likely to even get a nomination at that level would be Sweeney Todd, unless you want to count Porgy and Bess as a musical.

[quote]I think Wicked will sweep the Golden Globes tonight, and Cynthia is a lock for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy.

I hope you don't play the ponies.

Thanks, r236. I was just gonna ask how the film did at the GGs. Now I don't have to.

Emilia Perez winning is right up there with Pia Zadora winning a GG. A movie about a Mexican trans person. This is why Hollywood is in so much trouble.

This clip has to be seen to be believed.

R238 Hortense the MAGA cunt feels a compelling need to come to every thread, regardless of topic, and spew her Trumpian vomitous all over it.

Why, Hortense? What's missing in your life that you feel the need to do this?

R238 you can tell a movie/show is "woke' just by lookin at stills, because the cast is usually homely.

R240 You can tell Hortense is an ignorant, racist, obese cunt because she types like one.

R74 This is why I was never interested in Wicked.

[quotes] I went to his film because my friends wanted to go, and I thought it was a great way to get a large popcorn and a Pepsi and not feel guilty about the calories.

I don't get it.

If you eat junk food at the movies it means you don't have to feel guilty about the calories?

The Academy will nominate Ervivo but they won't honor an out black gay woman with the win.

[quote]The Academy will nominate Ervivo but they won't honor an out black gay woman with the win.

Can you imagine the meltdown tantrum if she's not nominated or, if she is nominated, doesn't win?

I wish Michelle Yeoh had a prestige project likely to get her another Best Actress nomination. Both because I love her, and because it would be so entertaining to see Erivo have another public meltdown and get her ass kicked by a woman 25 years her senior.

[quote]I wish Michelle Yeoh had a prestige project likely to get her another Best Actress nomination.

It's hard to believe that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was 25 years ago.

Michelle Yeoh is awful in this. But then again she’s awful in everything except Everything Everywhere All At Once and that’s because the directors were the ones who made that performance work. Her relentlessly stiff line readings in everything she’s been in (have driven me crazy. Add to that her one haughty/imperious facial expression) and it all smacks of a former model attempting to act, Bitch got an Oscar over Cate fucking Blanchett because voters wanted Michelle to “have her moment” and shame on them for that.

The last time I saw Wicked , Kim Zimmer was belching and farting her way through the role of Madame Morrible, so I appreciated Yeoh’s restraint.

r247 or today in "I feel old" DL posts.

I had no idea Cynthia Erivo wasn't even nominated for a Golden Globe for "Wicked" until I watched the show last night (tee hee).

I was thrilled to see "Wicked" got zilch at the Golden Globes except for that stupid new Box Office award. Whoopee ding dong.

Is "Wicked" DL's new drained pasta?

Spare us your dissertation, R235.

[quote]I had no idea Cynthia Erivo wasn't even nominated for a Golden Globe for "Wicked" until I watched the show last night (tee hee).

Are you, ya know, mental?

R254 No, just not a "Wicked" lunatic like you, I guess.

R248 She couldn't even read the cue cards correctly during her stupid banter with Jeff Goldblum at the Golden Globes.

She's awful.

[quote]I had no idea Cynthia Erivo wasn't even nominated for a Golden Globe for "Wicked" until I watched the show last night (tee hee).

She was nominated. She lost to Demi Moore.

It’s funny that there are so few memorable melodies in Wicked when The Wizard of Oz film is stuffed with them.

[quote][R247] or today in "I feel old" DL posts.

No, moron.

I'm not commenting about how long ago the movie was, but that Yeoh still looks fantastic compared to how she looked in that movie. If you compared her then and now, it's hard to believe it was 25 years ago. Also, if you watch her in Star Trek Discovery, she still moves and does fight scenes like she's much younger, not a 62 year old woman.

[quote]It’s funny that there are so few memorable melodies in Wicked when The Wizard of Oz film is stuffed with them.

Have you heard the noise pollution they are calling music in "Emilia Pérez"?

R259 It's hard to believe that 25 years have gone by and Michelle Yeoh still hasn't learned how to act.

I hated the "Wicked" stage show.

It's the only professional, live production I've ever attended that with 45 minutes, if not an hour remaining, I wanted to get up and leave.

It was auditory torture and the book so convoluted.

Otoh, I adored the movie, although easily at least 10 minutes, if not more, could've ended up on the cutting room floor. It's too long.

So when I see posts here of reviews from those who have seen the movie and not the stage production and disliked "Wicked" I totally understand it.

I'm not exactly sure how a comment reflecting on the fact that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came out 25 years ago makes me feel old also makes me a moron, r259, but you do you.

Looks like Ryan Reynolds has a crush on Jonathan Bailey:

The National Board of Review Awards gala, held Tuesday night at Manhattan’s Cipriani 42nd St., gathered the talents behind some of the most talked-about films of 2024.

Ryan Reynolds stepped out to present the best film award to “Wicked” at the star-studded gala, marking his first public outing since his wife, Blake Lively, filed a formal complaint against her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director, Justin Baldoni.

“‘Wicked’ is indeed wicked. It dares to center two powerful women. It examines a nuanced, complex relationship which has resonated with people for over two decades on stage,” Reynolds said on stage. “Stories about women seem to be held to a different set of standards, and that is to say that they’re often held to the standard women are held to in life. You must be perfect. You must hide your strength. You must shape-shift or placate. But Donna Langley and Universal, they know where and with whom to place their trust, and it paid off in this film.”

With his trademark charm and wit, Reynolds proceeded to playfully roast “Wicked” star Jonathan Bailey, who plays Fiyero in the musical film.

“I have one note. I think we can all agree that Jonathan Bailey is objectively perfect, perhaps too perfect. Personally, I would have preferred fewer scenes featuring Mr. Bailey,” Reynolds joked. “Being good is great, but being great is bad. You can’t just go around indiscriminately spraying charisma all over an enraptured audience. It might feel nice in the moment, but it could easily destabilize the entire industry.”

Reynolds added, “In short, the H.L.M.S., or Hollywood Leading Man Society, simply cannot sustain a standard of performance this high, and it is in our collective best interest that Jonathan Bailey tone it the fuck down. You’re making us look terrible, and I cannot work harder than I already work — and plastic surgery frightens me, Johnny. May I call you Johnny, if you’re here? I don’t give a shit. Let’s just pump the talent breaks or get out of fuck town, OK?”

That was overt.

"Talent brakes", R264.

But, yes. Ryan loves him a foreign-born triple-threat all right.

It’s not like Jonathan Bailey is some spring chicken.

I started to watch it over Christmas on streaming but didn't get through it all. I'll finish it, but I did spend most of it thinking "is this what all the fuss is about?"

[quote]You can’t just go around indiscriminately spraying

Watch me.

Incidentally, remember when Elizabeth II died and the London WICKED addressed her death before the show and then a few moments later the ensemble chanted, "Good news! She's dead!"

Talk about awkward.

A good friend was working the house when The Color Purple was there. Doing everything like taking tickets, seating people, house director and manager. Kind of like doing whatever they needed her to do on a particular day. I never heard of Erivo until this friend started talking about her. Despite all this negative press she is getting at the time she said she loved watching her perform, she said she was great, and she was a sweetheart of a person, very warm and friendly. Even if she ran into her on the street it was like greeting an old friend. The person she is today from all the news I hear about her is a completely different person than the one my friend talked about.

‘Wicked’ Earns RECORD $70 Million for Universal in First Week of Premium On-Demand

Wicked's first week of digital sales were more than double the first week sales of Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Per Variety, Universal is reporting that Jon M. Chu's Wicked made $26 million in its first day and $70 million in its first week of digital release in the United States and Canada. These numbers break the record for the studio's largest first day and initial week of sales for any theatrical title on VOD (and by quite a bit for the latter). The previous record holder, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, made only $44 million after one week, meaning Wicked likely blew past that figure after its first few days of digital release.

I laid down my 30 pieces of silver on day one.

What R271 says. I second it. She was utterly breathtaking in The Color Purple and gracious and friendly at the stage door.

[quote]‘Wicked’ Earns RECORD $70 Million for Universal in First Week of Premium On-Demand

MARY!!!!

All those neurodivergent shut-ins are spending big.

Box Office: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's Wicked BREAKS record for Digital Sales and Rentals by grossing USD 70 million in USA Alone in first week

I did not enjoy this film.

That chick who plays the wicked with is so fuckin' ugly. And actually, Ariana Grande is no Elizabeth Taylor either.

*wicked witch

Lol r276

"Wicked" surpassed "Avengers: Age of Ultron" to become the 27th highest-grossing film in US history.

To steal and slightly modify a line from one of my favorite movies: "You ought to have a job on the radio announcing the box-office hits."

WICKED has now outgrossed STAR WARS at the US box office.

The box office troll is nothing if not indefatigable.

‘Wicked’ overtakes ‘Inside Out 2’ as the highest-grossing film of 2024 in the UK.

The Box Office Troll has no understanding of the concept of inflation.

So, Box Office Troll, I know you’ll be shook but basically Universal has spent way more than twice as much as Warners did for Barbie to gross half as much, worldwide. And there’s no guarantee that Part Two will do as much overseas since it’s been a soft performer outside of the U.S.

When all is said and done, the post-mortem on Wicked is going to be pretty tepid.

I'd have thought that when Part 2 comes out, not only will people go to see it, but more people will see Part 1 when they have the second Act to go with it. People who don't know the show very well don't want to see half a story. Most people I know who've seen the show once since 2003 are completely blank on what happens in Part 2.

I think most people won’t care about Part 2.

Also, Dune: Part One got 10 Oscar nominations and won 6 on the night.

Dune: Part Two got 5 nominations.

Sci-fi fans are used to having multiple films in a franchise (likewise multiple books in a series). Wicked viewers are musical comedy fans who expect to see how the plot turns out.

Also, Wicked One got 10 nominations too and you don't know how many it will win, so I'm not sure why that is relevant; especially as we're discussing box office, not awards.

Yeah, comparisons of Dune to Wicked are bizarre.

Considering it is a musical, it’s hard to view it has anything other than a success.

I’m saying the returns will diminish.

‘Wicked’ Clicks Heels Past $700M At Global Box Office

I know I'm one of the few people on the planet but I like Cleopatra enormously. I first got to see the entire film when they released it to theaters on its 50th Anniversary. To say how good I found it is an understatement. I went twice. 4 hours flew by. Really. I've seen 1 hour French films that I could swear lasted a week.

All this to say I wish it had been released in the 6 hour two part version that Mankiewicz had prepared. I think if people had gone to see the first three hour part with Caesar they would have definitely returned to see the second part with Burton and Taylor. Hard to believe two hours were just thrown away.

R295, sir? This is a Wendy’s. Can I take your order?

R296 Carrie Underwood sees streaming numbers tumble after performing at Trump inauguration.

R297 it seems strange because Carrie Underwood's audience would seem to be Trumpers

I would say country music fans are 50-50 liberal-conservative. Or they are Garth Brooks/Dolly Parton conservatives.

And lots of MAGAts - Latinos, red-pilled black men, white kids who listen to Joe Rogan - do not necessarily intersect with the traditional country music fan base.

How do you not want to be her best friend?

Wrong video sorry....here

Wicked opens in Japan in March. It only has to gross $300 million to get it to a billion.

Has it already opened in China?

Well, it only walked away with two Oscars, both of them technical ones.

Womp womp.

The Oscar reaction really can't be judged till the second film is delivered. If the Academy still snubs it next year it's for real: this year it might just be voter refusal to judge what they see as half a movie.

The look of it is something that can be judged already, hence awards for sets and costumes, not to mention avoidance of any mention of the cinematography.

R305 I really don't think the Academy is awaiting Part II to determine if Wicked deserves more Oscars.

Let's be honest. The movie was way overhyped. It was not a spectacular achievement.

And as far as the cinematography, the whole movie had a "washed out" look. The cheap looking CGI didn't help, either.

The Wicked Witch of the West flying VFX in The Wizard of Oz is far more effective than the flying VFX in Wicked. Which is sort of nuts.

No surprise’’Wicked’’ swept all Oscar categories-a brilliant film. Oh-wait…

I like the fact that Ariana's costume designer actually thought "Performing 'Over the Rainbow' in a glittery ruby-red dress isn't quite on-the-nose enough, let's stick a ruby slipper on her back as well."

[quote]I really don't think the Academy is awaiting Part II to determine if Wicked deserves more Oscars.

Why are you thinking for a bunch of people you've never met?

R310 Oh, I dunno. Logic. Common sense.

Same question goes to you. Why do you think a bunch of people you've never met are actually waiting with anticipation to shower Wicked II with a cascade of Oscars?

R310 is not me (R305). And I didn't think they are "waiting with anticipation to shower Wicked II with a cascade of Oscars", I just said that might be a factor.

I distinctly said "If the Academy still snubs it next year it's for real". But, you know, I don't expect anyone to be able to read any more.

[quote]Oh, I dunno. Logic. Common sense....Same question goes to you. Why do you think a bunch of people you've never met are actually waiting with anticipation to shower Wicked II with a cascade of Oscars?

And there you go again, thinking for me, a stranger. I never said anything of the like. You have a problem.

"The Wizard Of Oz" "Sunset Blvd.", "To Kill A Mockingbird", "Bonnie & Clyde", "Cabaret", "Jaws", "Taxi Driver", "Star Wars", "E.T" The Extraterrestrial" all huge fan favorites yet never won Best Picture. They are still bona fide classics.

[bold] My theory is Green Actress hates Anorexic Actress with a passion. [/bold] Greeny got paid 1 million while Homewrecker got paid 15 million. Greeny is an actress, and you know she thinks SHE was the "star".

That's been debunked, r315.

They were paid the same amount.

Which sock puppet is this, r315?

R317 = Yawn. You forgot to call me Russian and MAGA too.

R312 R313 "Wicked" fans are in a cult like MAGA.

God forbid you say anything that doesn't 100% praise the movie or its stars.

R307 - I have to agree with you. I liked Wicked - it was good, but it wasn't great. I feel like it was over-edited - too many cuts and too many visual effects that it was hard to concentrate on the actual story.

It was extremely busy. The camera just couldn't fucking stand still - it was like ADHD. And I think that took away from the performances and the content.

It felt like it was trying to be Harry Potter. But it felt so rushed through, trying to get all the special effects and scenes in that the story was secondary.

My two cents.

Last item - Ariana Grande's constant overly wide-eyed, neck craned out (Oh - who ME? Oh GOSH! FANK YOU!) pantomiming at awards shows and in interviews shows how God awful she is as an actress in real life. It's really annoying and SO fucking FAKE.

Both she and Cynthia's 'look at me' antics have really left a bad impression.

SHIT FLOPPED HARD AT THE OSCARS. HA. HA. HA.

WTF, R319? When did I say anything remotely approaching that?

Are you OK?

R322 You're intent on trying to prove something, aren't you?

The problem is, no one knows what that is.