Wicked movie delayed again due to location change

Universal Pictures adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked has been in development since 2004 and it has hit various snags along the way. While it seemed like filming would be underway soon in Atlanta, Georgia, it looks like filming has been delayed yet again due to a complete location shift from Atlanta to the U.K.

Wicked will now be the first movie filmed at the Universal-owned Sky Studios in Elstree. This latest shift in production will now see the start of filming on the project moving from March to June of next year. Also of note, despite having Jon M. Chu attached as a director, “The Hollywood Reporter” indicates that the film has not officially been green-lit by Universal. The studio wants Chu and producers Marc Platt and David Stone “to proceed full steam ahead” but it seems like many key components aren’t in place to even do that. There is currently no cast attached to the project or even any performers being rumored to join the film so maybe this late filming start next June is good news for a production that doesn’t seem quite ready to get started.

The production of Wicked has been hit with several delays in its development process. Before Jon M. Chu came on board, director Stephen Daldry was attached to the project for many years but he eventually dropped out. What’s even more interesting is that, before the COVID-19 pandemic created many film delays on the calendar, Wicked was scheduled to hit theaters on December 22 of this year. That was clearly wishful thinking on Universal’s part because the project isn’t even close to stepping in front of the cameras.

Wicked is based on the novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire, which was adapted into the 2003 musical that starred Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. The story of Wicked serves as a prequel to the L. Frank Baum Oz novels, telling of Elphaba and Glinda, who go on to be known as the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the North in the future of the Land of Oz. Wicked was a massive hit on Broadway and by March 2016, the musical surpassed $1 billion in total Broadway revenue, joining both The Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King as the only Broadway shows to do so. In 2017, Wicked surpassed The Phantom of the Opera as Broadway’s second-highest-grossing musical, trailing only The Lion King.

Do YOU think the big-screen adaptation of Wicked will ever see the light of day?