For the past few weeks, the new ‘Wicked’ movie has been everywhere after its release in cinemas on the 22nd November. It is impossible to leave the house without seeing its adverts plastered all over buses and billboards or it dominating conversations. Even without going anywhere, the film is all over social media.

 

‘Wicked’ is the long awaited film adaptation of the hugely successful musical, originally inspired by the novel by Gregory Maguire. The film goes beyond ordinary musical adaptations by further fleshing out the musical; rather than cutting songs or dialogue it is expanded with longer songs and scenes more closely aligned to the original novel.  Thus there is potential for more nuance and detail in the adaptation, opening up the musical beyond the limitations of the stage, for example by giving the characters more of a backstory, or being able to capture magic through special effects not available in the theatre. It also helps that the film is being released in two parts, with a second film coming next November. The story follows the complicated friendship of the two witches of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, Elphaba and Glinda, before Dorothy arrives, yet it has a deeply profound and relevant message which makes it an incredibly moving watch, alongside a wonderful soundtrack. Some have even claimed the film is better than the original musical, with Pete Hammond claiming the adaptation ‘actually eclipses the Broadway stage play’. But what does this mean for musical theatre?

 

Fans of the cult-classic musical were undoubtedly concerned after the film’s announcement, with Reddit users claiming they don’t want it to ‘ruin’ the musical, or that the trailer is ‘not at all what [they were] envisioning’, and there is of course also the fear that the musical itself will be neglected with the release of this film. This fear comes after a series of disappointing musical-movie adaptations, for example, ‘Wonka’ and ‘The Colour Purple’ last year did not have the same publicity or reception as ‘Wicked’, in fact, both were sneakily marketed not primarily as musicals, with trailers that focused less on the traditional musical theatre elements of the films, perhaps suggesting there was a dip in audiences who wanted to see this genre, and that people had to practically be tricked into watching a musical (I mean, how many people were surprised when Timothee Chalamet started singing in ‘Wonka’?). Similarly, the recent film adaptation of the ‘Mean Girls’ musical surprised viewers who assumed it was a remake of the 2004 classic after the trailer featured an Olivia Rodrigo song, rather than a song from the musical itself, as pointed out by Alice Weltermann, ‘Mean Girls is a Musical that is incredibly ashamed of being a musical’. Consequently, the film has very mixed reviews and did not swamp the media in the same way that ‘Wicked’ has. There is a suggestion here that these films are not marketed as musicals perhaps due to an assumption that people do not like them anymore, however, whilst earning them some commercial success (especially for ‘Wonka’), this lack of integrity or commitment to the genre only puts these films in an awkward position where no one really knows what to think of them. Moreover, other recent musical-movies that remained faithful to their origins have practically flopped, 2019’s ‘CATS’ being a prime example of this, rated terribly with 19% on Rotten Tomatoes despite its star-filled cast. Furthermore, some genuinely great films, such as ‘In the Heights’ (2021), ‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ (2021), ‘West Side Story’ (2021) and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ (2021) have similarly lacked in commercial success despite being more overt about their genre, not to mention excellently produced. None of these films have been immensely popular or successful in the media, so perhaps there is some truth in the assumption that musicals simply aren’t popular anymore? Perhaps a disinterest has caused a dip in the movie-musical genre, where there have been no stand-out successful film adaptations.

 

Niamh Dunne further comments on this, claiming ‘they look bad, they sound bad, and sometimes directors won’t even admit they’ve made a musical at all. What on earth is happening to this once lucrative genre?’ and that ‘the movie musical is in dire need of resuscitation’, pointing out that not only are these films practically ashamed of their genre, but the execution of the musical elements is simply not as authentic or high quality as it once was. A contributing factor in this has undeniably been the change from live vocals to pre-recorded singing dubbed over the film, with more contemporary films having actors lip-syncing rather than actually singing. Luckily, ‘Wicked’ is all sung with live vocals, bringing a sense of authenticity and immersion to the film, so that viewers do feel as though they are actually watching a musical. Thus, it is clear that it is time for a revival, which arguably ‘Wicked’ is bringing.

 

Unlike these films described, the publicity for ‘Wicked’ is huge, trending and unashamedly proud of its musical heritage. The film has already been immensely successful, rating 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is a promising continuation of the show’s West End and Broadway success, as it has been on Broadway for over 20 years, being the fourth longest running show on Broadway, and one of the most widely popular, let’s only hope that the film brings new audiences to the theatres, rather than takes audiences from them. Furthermore, the film casts predominantly actors who started in theatre, and thus will be more authentically faithful to the original (with Ariana Grande making her Broadway debut in ’13’ in 2008, and Cynthia Erivo winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2016). These actresses thus earn the film not only the power of having big names at their forefront, but also genuine musical talent. This, combined with the expansion of the plot into two films with even more content than the stage version, provides the potential for a hugely successful film that will revive the movie-musical genre and bring it back into mainstream popular culture. Furthermore, ‘Wicked’ has come at a time when its messages against fascism, prejudice and discrimination are more relevant than ever, and this movie brings its moral message straight to the fore. The film breathes a new life not only into the musical, but into the genre of musical films as a whole. It is time for musical films to become ‘popular’ again.