For almost as long as it’s been playing on Broadway, a film version of the hit musical Wicked has been in the works. However, for most of that time it’s been trapped in development hell. With musicals tending to have a mixed record at the cinemas, it’s believed executives at Universal were nervous about making such an expensive musical movie.
It also didn’t help when Disney made Oz The Great And Powerful, which delayed the Wicked movie while they judged whether that film would mean people wouldn’t want another Oz movie. But while the adaptation has had major issues, Universal has never given up on it.
Now, it finally looks like they’re getting serious, as a December 20th, 2019, release date has been set. It’s still early days though, as while it has a director in the form of Stephen Daldry, there’s no cast attached as yet. However, giving it a release date at least signifies they’re getting really serious about bringing the musical to the screen.
Billy Elliot, The Reader and The Hours director Stephen Daldry returns with Trash this winter, which looks like it’s bidding to be this year’s Slumdog Millionaire.
While it’s Rio setting might make you think it would have made sense to release Trash to coincide with this year’s soccer World Cup, it appears they have award hopes for Stephen Daldry’s new movie, which looks like it’s hoping to be this year’s Slumdog Millionaire.
Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) has an impressive track record on film, as every movie he’s made has been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. He’ll be hoping to continue that with Trash, based on Andy Mulligan’s children’s novel.
The musical Wicked actually started its life being developed as a movie as Universal, before heading off to Broadway and becoming one of the most successful shows ever. Even since it became massive on stage, there’s been talk about Universal mounting it as a big budget film, but it’s always been on the backburner.