We might actually get to see Wicked make it to the big screen. According to Deadline, Jon M. Chu will reportedly direct an adaptation of the Broadway musical (itself an adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s novel of the same name).
Maguire published Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West—a reimagination of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz back in 1995, and the musical debuted in 2003, where it’s remained on the stage ever since.
The story is told through the perspective of the witches Elphaba and Galinda, and since its wild success as a musical, there’s been no shortage of efforts to adapt it as a film. Maguire actually sold the rights prior to the musical, and in 2009, he had sold the rights for a TV adaptation at ABC, although that never went anywhere. Another effort was underway as of 2015, which eventually got a 2019 release date from Universal with Stephen Daldry set to direct. That effort was later shuffled around in the post-COVID release schedule, and Daldry had to drop out.
Now Chu—who recently dropped out of Lucasfilm’s Willow TV series—is next to pick up the project, which is being adapted by Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz, who adapted the book for the stage. Universal hasn’t announced an updated release date, or a cast, although it would be fitting if they could get Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth to reprise their roles.
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