Long before Wicked made the jump from stage to screen, the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel had Hollywood in a frenzy.
Jon M. Chu‘s recent movie musical adaptation marks a long journey to the big screen for the Wizard of Oz prequel, with Whoopi Goldberg vying for the rights to Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West shortly after the bestseller’s debut.
“This is true,” Goldberg’s rep told Vanity Fair. “Whoopi loved the book and tried hard to get the rights.”
According to Maguire, Goldberg wasn’t the only actress to throw her hat in the ring. “People who had expressed an interest in the first six months included Whoopi Goldberg and Claire Danes. Salma Hayek had had some interest, and Laurie Metcalf,” he recalled.
The author was hoping to work with Demi Moore, who optioned the rights through her production company Moving Pictures, which already had a relationship with Universal and would have made the film easier to make.
Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and director Jon M. Chu on the set of Wicked (2024) (Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Maguire imagined Moore as Elphaba. “I used to say, I can imagine Demi Moore naked and green on the cover of Vanity Fair,” he said. Meanwhile, some of the names in consideration for Glinda were Michelle Pfeiffer, Emma Thompson and Nicole Kidman, according to Moore’s producing partner Suzanne Todd.
The story was ultimately adapted into a Tony-winning Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, starring Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda.
Based on the musical and Maguire’s novel, Chu’s Wicked follows the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda, the Good Witch (Ariana Grande) as they first meet at Shiz University and share a life-changing encounter with the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum).
Breaking multiple box office records, Wicked had a $164.2 million worldwide opening. The film has also earned four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, Best Actress for Erivo and Best Supporting Actress for Grande.
