Most people probably know Wicked is a musical. After all, it’s one of the most successful musicals of this generation and is still playing for audiences all over the world. Nevertheless, from the first moment audiences saw a glimpse of what director Jon M. Chu and Universal had in store for the film adaptation, it almost felt like a secret.
Starting with that Super Bowl ad nine months ago, and up to videos and clips in the past few months, there has been virtually zero footage of singing in the musical adaptation. The popular songs from the show have played over the footage, but the fact that Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and the rest of the cast sing in the movie has remained hidden.
That changed today. Wicked opens on November 22, less than a month away, and a new featurette finally admits, yes, this is a musical. Yes, there is singing. And, in fact, the singing was done live on set. Check out the new video below.
Not only is there singing in Wicked, it looks like it’s going to be damned good signing. Even if you aren’t super familiar with the show, songs like “Popular” and “Defying Gravity” still can give you goosebumps. So seeing them full out, in a theater, with all the visual effects and sound, should be awesome.
As for why Universal seemingly held this aspect of the movie back, there are a few potential reasons. The biggest one is probably that the footage just wasn’t ready. Especially with that early trailer timed to the Super Bowl, it would’ve been very surprising to have anything ready to show. From there though, it just felt like a concerted effort to hook people in with the big, bright visuals and the connections to The Wizard of Oz—and then, at the end, have one last big reveal. It’s not like fans thought they cut out the singing but now, because it was held back, seeing it is just a bit more special.
There is, however, one big aspect of Wicked that is still being largely hidden. It’s that on November 22 you aren’t sitting down to see “Wicked.” You’re sitting down to see “Wicked Part One” with “Part Two” out next year. Keeping that quiet is obviously another very conscious decision to get butts in seats because slapping a “Part One” on it could potentially turn some moviegoers off. Many feel that happened with the latest Mission: Impossible (which actually changed its title post-release) and Warner Bros. used the same strategy for the first Dune.
Nevertheless, the first part of Wicked opens in less than a month. It has singing. You’ve now seen some of it. And we’ll have more in the coming weeks.
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