It’s been a long time coming, but Universal has finally zeroed in on a release date for its movie adaptation of Wicked – December 20, 2019.
Stephen Daldry remains attached to helm The Wizard of Oz prequel, which has enjoyed a long and successful run on stage. Producer Marc Platt, who oversaw production on the boards, will reunite with scribe Winnie Holzman and composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz on the feature film.
Based on Gregory Maguire’s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, it’s still early, early days, meaning it’ll be some time yet before Universal begins its casting spree in search of Elphaba and Glinda, who go on to become the embodiments of good and evil in the mystical land of Oz.
Wicked is now due to take flight on December 20, 2019. Other than an as-yet-untitled Disney movie – one thought to be a live-action fairytale – Universal’s long-in-development musical holds the pre-holiday window on its lonesome. That is, until a Star Wars movie stakes out the late-2019 corridor.
With Universal finally making some tangible process on the musical adaptation, tell us, who would you like to see clinch the role of Elphaba and/or Glinda? Let us know your early predictions in the comments below.