Broadway musical ‘Wicked’ to hit big screen in 2019–reports

Universal Pictures announced Thursday that the movie adaptation of the 2003 popular broadway musical “Wicked” is targeted to Victor movie theaters on Dec. 20, 2019, according to reports.

In reports by The Hollywood Reporter and The Verge, the company confirmed that Stephen Daldry, who directed the Tony award-winning musical Billy Elliot, will be the film’s director. He had been chosen by Universal Pictures to be the film’s director since July 2012.

On the other hand, Marc Platt, the stage play’s producer, will also be the producer of the upcoming movie which is based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West”.

”Frozen” voice actress Idina Menzel and American theater diva Kristin Chenoweth, who were the protagonists of the trendy musical, will likely star in the film but with ‘older’ roles; Chenoweth expressed interest in portraying the role of Madame Morrible, the tale’s devilish school headmistress. Writer Winnie Holzman and composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz will contribute for the upcoming film.

”Wicked” is a story telling of the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz”, in the perspective and eyes of Elphaba, the green-skinned ‘Wicked Witch of the East’.  The original novel was written by Frank Baum in the 1900s.

The musical was nominated 10 times and won three Tony Awards, prevailing as the 10th longest-running broadway musical of all time. The musical, which ran for 13 consecutive years, grossed over $3 billion. Gianna Francesca Catolico