Wicked

Jon M. Chu’s film covers only the first act of the stage musical that opened on Broadway in 2003, and it ends on Defying Gravity, the number that closes that act. The stopping point is therefore not an invention of the screenplay but the place where the theatre takes its interval. Shooting happened at Sky Studios Elstree in England, with both parts made back to back between December 2022 and January 2024 across 155 days. The production says nine million tulips were planted for Munchkinland, and the yellow brick road was laid with real mud. Recording the vocals live on set was something Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande pushed for. Marissa Bode, who plays Nessarose, is the first wheelchair user to take that part in the show’s two decades on stage. The film drew ten Academy Award nominations and won two, costume design and production design. Paul Tazewell, who won the costume award, is the first Black man to win in that category. The same two categories were won at the BAFTAs. There was no nomination for directing or adapted screenplay. A good fit if you care that most of what is on screen was actually built, and can accept the story stopping at Defying Gravity. Not for anyone expecting Elphaba and Glinda to settle anything within this film.