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'Wicked' Costume Designer Reveals Secrets About Glinda's Gowns, Elphaba's Hat & More! (Exclusive)
Let's instrumentality the yellowish ceramic roadworthy to the Wicked movie that mightiness person been.
While the movie musical starring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey based on the 2003 Broadway hit is presently captivating movie audiences, determination was astir a precise antithetic mentation made successful the mid-1990s, which much intimately followed the archetypal root material, Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.
According to Wicked film and Broadway producer Marc Platt, a movie adaptation was already floating astir Universal Pictures erstwhile helium joined the institution successful 1996.
"I americium going to effort and get the timeline close if I tin remember, but I judge erstwhile I became the president of accumulation astatine Universal, the task was already here," helium told Vanity Fair in an interrogation published Dec. 19. "It had been optioned initially by Demi Moore's company."
However, according to writer Maguire, the publication had been the absorption of a bidding warfare among respective actors who were funny successful producing a movie version, telling that outlet that Whoopi Goldberg "had expressed an involvement successful the archetypal six months."
But erstwhile helium heard that Moore wanted to marque the movie, Maguire was rapidly connected board.
Referencing her famed 1991 Annie Leibovitz photoshoot, Maguire quipped, "I utilized to say, I tin ideate Demi Moore bare and greenish connected the screen of Vanity Fair."
Moore's institution Moving Pictures secured the rights and Moore was funny successful playing 1 of the pb roles, her producing partner Suzanne Todd confirmed.
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"I deliberation connected antithetic days she could bash either," Todd explained of Moore's quality to play either Elphaba oregon Glinda, "but successful the infinitesimal it was decidedly for Elphaba."
And portion they ne'er got the constituent of casting Glinda, Todd said they did person respective actresses "top of mind," including Nicole Kidman.
She besides confirmed that "there was benignant of a rumble for a minute" that Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis was funny successful joining the project, though she notes that she "never spoke" to him straight astir it.
Over the adjacent fewer years, aggregate screenwriters took stabs astatine a screenplay for a non-musical film adaptation from the book, with Platt and Maguire recalling that the strongest mentation came from Linda Woolverton, who wrote respective Disney movies, including 1991's Beauty and the Beast, 1994's The Lion King and 1998's Mulan.
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
And it was apparently Woolverton who astatine 1 constituent suggested adding songs into the film.
"Linda is the 1 who truly wanted to bash a musical," Todd said. "The thought came from her enactment astatine Disney, wherever she had besides worked connected the musicals of those animated films."
Interesting, Broadway legend Stephen Schwartz—who ultimately wrote the euphony and lyrics for the signifier version—saw the imaginable for a philharmonic himself and brought the thought to Platt. And the rest, arsenic they say, is history.
For a afloat breakdown connected everyone who was almost cast in Wicked, support reading.
Drew Altizer Photography/Shutterstock
Demi Moore
Demi Moore's accumulation institution Moving Pictures bought the rights to Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and brought the movie to Universal Pictures in the 1990s, according to producer Marc Platt.
Moore's producing partner Suzanne Todd confirmed the Ghost star wanted to play a pb successful the film—either Glinda the Good Witch oregon Elphaba the Wicked Witch—telling Vanity Fair in December 2024, "I deliberation connected antithetic days she could bash either, but successful the infinitesimal it was decidedly for Elphaba."
MediaPunch/Shutterstock
Whoopi Goldberg
Moore wasn't the lone 1 actively pursuing the rights to Wicked. According to Maguire, Whoopi Goldberg was besides funny successful a movie adaptation.
"Whoopi Goldberg's manager wanted to bargain it for her," Todd added. "But I truly wanted it."
"This is true," Whoopi's publicist Brad Cafarelli told Vanity Fair. "Whoopi loved the publication and tried hard to get the rights."
Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
Claire Danes
Fresh disconnected the present cult-classic My So-Called Life, Claire Danes expressed involvement successful a movie wrong the archetypal six months of the book's release in the ‘90s, as Maguire recalled.
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Salma Hayek
According to Maguire, Salma Hayek "had had immoderate interest" successful moving connected a movie mentation arsenic well, though helium was not definite if she intended to play the portion of Elphaba.
David Benthal/BFA.com/Shutterstock
Laurie Metcalf
The Roseanne alum—who was besides one of the original members of Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company—also showed interest, Maguire confirmed to Vanity Fair, noting that helium besides wasn't definite which relation she was looking to portray.
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Michelle Pfeiffer
Once Moore's Moving Pictures was granted the rights in the 1990s, they began moving connected a screenplay and creating their privation database of actors.
According to Todd, they ne'er got to the constituent of casting the quality of Glinda, but Michelle Pfeiffer was connected the privation list.
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Emma Thompson
Also connected Todd and Moore's database for Glinda? Emma Thompson, who was connected her mode to winning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for 1995's Sense and Sensibility.
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Nicole Kidman
Another histrion that Todd confirmed was "top of mind" for the relation of Glinda was Nicole Kidman, who was caller disconnected 1995's Batman Forever.
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