Here's some news that should be exciting for fans of Broadway, The Wizard of Oz, all musicals, and even Frozen. Broadway's long-running, insanely successful Wicked is officially going to be a movie. There have been rumors about a film adaptation of the Wizard of Oz prequel for years, but the show's composer, Stephen Schwartz, told Vulture that the process has finally begun.
Well, he actually said, "We're starting to do some work on it. We've actually started gearing up on it a little bit," and while he quickly warned fans that he doesn't how many years it will take to complete, we're excited anyway. Wicked opened in 2003 starring Idina Menzel as Elphaba, who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda (or Galinda, in her early days) the Good Witch.
There's no word on the film's cast, but fans everywhere are likely crossing their fingers for the original duo. Maybe it's possible. Menzel has only gotten more famous since then, especially in the wake of Frozen 's unprecedented success. Chenoweth hasn't had as large of a hit, but she's definitely still...popular (hehe!) and not very busy.
For now, let's just be happy that Wicked will eventually be coming to movie theaters near you. Schwartz is working out the details and took Vulture through some of the decisions he has to make as they try to give the musical the amazing movie it deserves. Maybe we can help him out.
"What are we going to change?”
Um, nothing?
“What are we going to keep?"
Literally everything.
"How do you use a whole new language and medium to tell the story?"
Copy the script word-for-word, substitute the theater effects for fancy CGI and call it a day.
Okay Schwartz, time to get started. Fans have waited ten years for Wicked to go from the stage to the screen, don't make us wait much longer.
