In the old days of Hollywood, there would have been a Wicked movie a long time ago, but musicals take much longer to reach the silver screen these days. A Wicked movie might finally be on its way in 2016.
During an interview with Film Divider, Into The Woods producer Marc Platt gave an update on a Wicked movie. He said that there is a “loose goal” to get the film in theaters by 2016.
“Audiences enjoy that show so much that we are intending to move forward on the movie but aren’t going to do so until we’re satisfied in the material we have as a screenplay, and that the film will be every bit as satisfying as what we have on the stage,” Platt explained.
He added that Winnie Holzman is working on the script and Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Reader) has been hired to direct.
“It took 27 years to make Into the Woods into a film from its original stage production, and 30 years with Les Mis,” Platt noted. “Some things take time for a reason.”
The Wicked movie has been in the works at Universal, which released Les Miserables, since 2012, when there were reports that Daldry had signed on, notes The Guardian.
Wicked is the beloved musical based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, which told the origin story for the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. L. Frank Baum’s world was last seen on the big screen in Disney’s 2013 film Oz The Great and Powerful, which was an international blockbuster, despite mixed reviews.
The original Broadway production of Wicked helped further cement Idina Menzel’s stature as a star and won a Tony for her performance.