By Grace Catanese, Staff Writer
The hit Broadway musical, “Wicked,” has been made into a movie, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivoset, set to come out in theaters on Thanksgiving Day 2024.
The trailer was initially aired on television during the Super Bowl, which caused many people to see it, even if they didn’t go out of their way to watch it. This made many viewers of the game aware that a movie was coming out based on the musical.
The musical is based on “The Wizard of Oz,” and tells the story of Glinda, the good witch and Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west. The two become best friends and Glinda changes Elphaba for good.
While theater fans are eager to see the performance done by the actors in the film, most people were intrigued by Ariana Grande playing Glinda.
Post education alumni Robert Metzger took notice of how Grande paused her music career to put her all into her performance.
“It’s going to be so good,” Metzger said. “Ariana has been putting her everything into the project, even temporarily halting her music career. We are only getting new music because of the writers’ strike, but if it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have put anything out until 2026.”
Many feel the same and believe that Grande is going to do an impressive job in the role, however, others are waiting to see for themselves if the movie is going to live up to all the attention it is getting.
Senior music major Alexandra Perticone commented on how little Grande spoke in the trailer.
“Ariana Grande had like no lines in the trailer,” Petricone said. “People are probably going to see this movie for her so hopefully she is featured a lot.”
Many also feel as though the trailer gave little context as to what the story is actually about and unless they are already familiar with the show, the trailer could’ve done a better job in that respect.
Perticone shared her thoughts on this.
“Kids today probably don’t know what ‘Wicked’ or ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is so they should have expanded on the plot a bit more instead of just having like four lines in the whole trailer,” she said.
Despite playing a role alongside Grande, who fans typically associate with having a large amount of talent, viewers and fans have been giving a lot of their attention to Grande’s costar, Cynthia Erivo, as she has appeared in other films such as “Drift” and “Harriett.”
Metzger gave his opinions on how he believes Erivo will do with the role of Elphaba.
“Cynthia Erivo is going to be an amazing Elphaba because she is an incredible vocalist,” he said. “I am excited to see the onscreen chemistry between Ariana and Cynthia because online they seem to have a really beautiful friendship blossoming and we have no choice but to stan.”
The friendship between Grande and Erivo on social media also has fans interested to see the film. The two have been posting press for the film quite frequently, which is building the desire for fans to see the film when it finally comes out.
One thing about the film that differs from the musical is that it is going to be split into two different parts. People are mainly confused as to why the directors chose to do this and are curious to find out why.
“I don’t like that they’re splitting the show up into 2 parts because the musical is shown at once, so why can’t the film adaptation be the same?” Metzger questioned.
One thing that a majority of fans agree on is that they don’t want the film to differ too much from the musical in terms of music, as that is something that draws in much of the “Wicked” fan base.
“They shouldn’t touch the story or cut songs because that will get everyone so mad,” Metzger said.
While everyone is building excitement for the film to finally be released, there is a long way to go until the movie hits the theaters.
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