I’m sure you’ve all noticed the “Wicked” merchandise plaguing all areas of your very existence, ranging from the new Starbucks drink “Elphaba’s Cold Brew” to viral Target ads featuring Cynthia Erivo’s iconic “Defying Gravity” vocals. It seems like the pink and green combo is just about everywhere, and clearly, the marketing for this movie has paid off: The film has already earned $19.2 million in its first previews and is expected to reach $120 million within its first weekend alone. Today, it stands at $455.5 million made worldwide.
“Wicked” is not the first Broadway musical to be brought to the big screen — just earlier this year, we took a trip back to 2003 with the movie-musical remake of Mean Girls. However, there is a stark difference between the two movies that is not to be ignored. While we couldn’t be happier with “Wicked,” many theatre kids were disappointed by the Mean Girls remake for a number of reasons. So, what makes a movie musical successful?
To begin, it certainly helps when producers actually advertise their on-screen remakes as musicals. There’s been a recent trend in movie musical trailers that neglect to mention that the movie includes several musical numbers at all. People were quite surprised to sit through entire soundtracks in popular movies such as “Wonka” and Netflix’s “Leo,” and this could have easily been avoided if the trailers actually gave audiences a heads-up. It’s as if marketing companies are worried about scaring off viewers who are not theatre kids. It is definitely possible to highlight a movie’s “theatreness” while appealing to many audiences; just look at “La La Land.” Its’ trailer featured multiple songs and dance numbers, and its $506 million worldwide box office earnings speak for themselves.
This was one of the biggest problems with the new Mean Girls film. Despite being a movie version of the hit Broadway musical, it felt as though this film was ashamed of its theatre past. The music was toned down to the point where it was underwhelming and many songs were cut or changed too much. Ultimately, it felt as though the movie didn’t pay any respect to its theatre roots.
So why is “Wicked” so popular? (Pun intended). Admittedly, the film already has a slight advantage over Mean Girls because it might just be the most beloved musical of all time throughout the theatre community. Seriously, there’s not one single theatre kid who hasn’t dreamed of playing either Elphaba or Glinda or who hasn’t belted the “Defying Gravity” riff at some point (if you know, you know). Excitement was already through the roof for this film, and the marketing budget was likely quite high with partnerships like Crocs and Starbucks. The marketing certainly played a big role in the movie’s popularity, but that might not be the main reason for its success.
Unlike Mean Girls, Wicked has taken pride in its theatricality, which is what really contributed to its success. Theatre kids everywhere are happily showing up to theatres dressed in their most wicked costumes and belting their hearts out. It pays homage to the iconic Broadway musical in multiple ways, including cameos from the original cast, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. They embrace the negatives and positives of their theatre-kid audience, with some theatres even posting “no singing” signs in anticipation of a Defying Gravity “incident.”
Overall, the marketing for Wicked has proven very successful, but it’s the way they honor their Broadway history that really sets it apart from other movie musicals. The moral of the story is to embrace who you are, because only then will you truly be popular.
