The movie musical “Wicked” collected a blockbuster $114 million in its opening weekend. Over the past year, Universal and its parent company Comcast have launched an all-out marketing blitz to blanket the world in “Wicked.” WSJ’s Erich Schwartzel reports on how it is the new Hollywood playbook. Further Listening:- The Curtain Closes on Phantom of the Opera - The Rise of the Minions - Why 'Yellowstone' Is One of TV's Most Expensive Shows Further Reading: - Inside Hollywood’s Big ‘Wicked’ Gamble - ‘Wicked’ Flies High on Big Screen, With $114 Million Opening Weekend Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What makes the marketing for 'Wicked' so unique?
This year, it's been almost impossible to go anywhere without seeing some kind of promotion for the movie Wicked.
I mean, you really could spend like every hour of the day consuming some kind of Wicked promotion. It really is turning what is, by definition, a movie into some kind of lifestyle statement.
That's our colleague Eric Schwartzel, who covers Hollywood. He says the marketing push is one of the biggest Hollywood has ever seen.
It started officially with the movie's stars appearing at the Super Bowl, which was now nine months ago.
Ariana, we love you!
And there's just been this steady drumbeat of wicked promotion since then. There was a ton of references to it at the Summer Olympics.
Celebrate their story. Tonight at the Olympic Games.
The Today Show had Wicked interviews.
We are ready to defy gravity here in Paris as we welcome two stars of the highly anticipated movie musical Wicked.
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Chapter 2: How did 'Wicked' transition from stage to screen?
Just to point out how wild this is, the new movie Wicked is based on a musical, which is based on a book, which is a retelling of The Wizard of Oz, which itself was a movie based on a musical and a book that first came out in 1900. It's a story that people clearly seem to be drawn to. Wicked the Musical opened on Broadway in 2003.
And was it a hit from the start? No, it wasn't. It was actually a very dicey proposition because it had a budget of $14 million, which in Hollywood is a quaint indie, but on Broadway is a massive investment. And then there were some critics who thought that it relied too heavily on the stagecraft. Like there's a lot of special effects. I mean, Act One ends with
Elphaba, the Wicked Witch, like several feet above the stage because she's flying. She's defying gravity, so to speak. She sings the song and at a climactic moment, she ends like high above the stage. And when I went to see Wicked in late September, I had dinner that night with a friend who produces Broadway shows.
And I said to him, I said, I wonder if I went to an early reading of Wicked, if I would have thought this show is going to be a blockbuster. Because it doesn't seem on the surface like it should work as well as it does. And my friend said, well, you might have just because the songs are so good. The songs are, in his view, the songs are significantly better than your average Broadway show.
They stick with you. They kind of have a way of, like a good pop song, kind of becoming this recurring refrain in your life. And you sort of want to be like, I'm dancing through life.
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Chapter 3: What is the backstory of 'Wicked' and its musical roots?
How does that one go again?
I'm not doing it, Brian.
Come on. Soon enough, the show is a big Broadway hit, with Idina Menzel cast as the witch Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glenda. The musical's been on for 21 years, making Wicked one of Broadway's longest-running shows. It's been seen by more than 65 million people, and it's raked in more than $5 billion in ticket sales.
And it's also developed an enormous army of people like yourself who are massive, wicked fans. Tell me more about this fan base and how many are there of you? How many are?
We're everywhere. And we find each other. You know, it's interesting, when I was working on this story, I found that the fans of Wicked really behave in a way that I think we've always associated with fans of like superhero comics. And as the show has developed a kind of lore of its own, fans have followed that lore.
So there are, you know, dozens of women who have played these two lead roles who fans will compare performances of. and see what they're doing differently and how they're interpreting it differently. It's really become kind of a living document.
If Wicked had such a loyal fan base and the Broadway show was such a huge success, why did they waste so long to make a movie?
Well, on one hand, making a movie feels like an obvious choice because if it's a huge hit on Broadway, and even if just a fraction of the people who see it on Broadway go to see it in theaters, you might have a hit. But there are a couple considerations they had to keep in mind.
One is cannibalizing the show and worrying about rushing out a movie too quickly whenever you're still making so much money on ticket sales for the live show. And then the other is that they knew that doing it with the wrong cast or doing it in a ham-handed way could just hurt the property overall.
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Chapter 4: Why did it take so long to make a 'Wicked' movie?
It's a great question. I mean, I think you want to make sure that you try to make the tent as big as possible. And I think that's one challenge that this movie has is that there are people, I'm told, who will just not ever see a musical. There are just like giant chunks of the movie going population that they're going to have trouble getting. So they need to make the tent as big as possible.
I also think it's about just sort of whipping those fans into a frenzy. And I think the wicked fandom that has been sort of serviced now over the past year by this massive campaign is just helping to amplify all of that.
excitement and and energy and then i think it also like to your question about the bottom line it also helps make sure that maybe they organize a big outing with 10 friends to go see it on opening night maybe they take it to that next level where they they're buying more tickets they're seeing it two or three or four times are there any risks with this flooding the zone strategy Oh, yeah.
I mean, I think, I mean, the biggest risk is just like everyone's saying enough already. And the head of marketing at Universal gave this presentation that I was at where he said, we're going to be just short of obnoxious.
Uh-huh. That seems like a tricky line. It's a very subjective line.
I mean, yeah, it's like it really is a fine art. And I think the oversaturation risks alienating people, but I also think you run the risk of overhyping and then they're causing a backlash, right? It's this really kind of like emotional exchange between the marketing department and the public, right?
After a big opening weekend, it's clear that the strategy worked. The film grossed $163 million globally, making it the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film based on a Broadway musical. And that's just for Wicked Part 1. Eric says he'll be keeping an eye on whether Universal's strategy carries through to next November, when Wicked Part 2 comes out.
I mean, what does all this say about Hollywood in 2024?
I think what it says about Hollywood is whenever you see Wicked on the subway or you see Wicked at an NFL game or you see Wicked on the shelves at Target, like part of it looks really impressive, right? Like this is really a sign of what a company can do whenever it sort of focuses its energy.
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Chapter 5: How has 'Wicked' created a loyal fanbase?
And it looks like it is exhausting itself to try and have a monopoly on our attention.
And what will it mean if it fails and it doesn't actually translate into the kind of box office numbers that they're hoping for?
I think if it fails, it is not good news for those of us who want to go see musicals.
You know, maybe if you sing, you know, maybe more people will go see the film.
Remember that line about just short of obnoxious?
Uh-huh.
I think that's the line, is podcast guests singing the Wicked cast recording.
But just short of obnoxious, so then we'll be good. Just short, yeah, yeah. That's all for today, Monday, November 25th. The Journal is a co-production of Spotify and The Wall Street Journal. If you like our show, follow us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We're out every weekday afternoon. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.
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