Wicked – The Movie
Since the major successes of “Moulin Rouge” and “Chicago,” Hollywood has been busy making musicals again. We all knew it was only a matter of time before they took advantage of the smashing success of “Wicked!” Although, this news has been taken both with excitement and dread. The stage show is hailed as the next “Phantom of the Opera,” and we all know what kind of mess that turned out to be as a movie.
Wicked, the Movie?
So, America wants to be sung to again. But should they really take every precious gem from the streets of Broadway and gamble making a mediocre movie just for the almighty buck? The theater lover in me says that “Wicked” was only intended for the stage. I would very much look forward to seeing a straight version of the movie (without music) based more heavily on the Gregory Maguire book. This would also leave them open to making the sequels “Son of a Witch” and “A Lion Among Men.” Seeing as Hollywood is just loving their trilogies these days, that would seem the more lucrative avenue.
Those of us who are thrilled that FINALLY a movie is being made out of this brilliant musical, are not without our worries either. There have been murmurs around the internet of them considering Reese Witherspoon [edit: these rumors are unsupported by...anyone really] over Kristin Chenoweth for the part of Galinda. A loyal fan would be up in arms about this, however, I am a huge fan of Witherspoon. I would be torn about liking or not liking this change. It would be a stab to Chenoweth, that’s for sure. She’s been trying so hard to make it big in the movies. It’s too bad she is only cast for crappy character rolls. With how star-crazy Idina Menzel is, I’m sure she’ll have no problem getting the part. I can’t wait to hear how she finishes the movie soundtrack.
MOO!
The movie is slated to come out in 2010 [edit: now 2016...why do they torture us so?], but as of yet, the only thing certain about the movie is the producer, Marc Platt (responsible for the “Legally Blonde” movies). Now we see how the rumors about Witherspoon got started. It seems the production company is good at comedy, so this will be interesting at worst. I say, let it happen. For the true lovers of the stage, it won’t stop them from seeing the show. Speaking of Idina, any loyal “Rent” fan knows the show SO out ranks the movie [edit: and I include Idina's performance in the "Rent" movie in that assessment]. Relax people, it’s a good thing.
Randomness | Joey | 
31 July 2008 11:33 PM
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