Chairman of Universal Pictures:

[TheGingerBreadMan]

[E.Davis]

Did not know that David Lindsay-Abaire penned the screenplay for Oz: The Great and Powerful. Gives me faith that it will be a good film.

[OperaBwayLover]

Wasn't there talk several years ago of a Wicked movie/tv miniseries that WOULD be based on the book?

[E.Davis]

And Selma Hayek was supposed to be producing it for ABC.

[fingerlakessinger]

^ I think that silently died once the musical became a mega success.
As a WICKED fan, I have to say that many of its fans do not do the majority of us any favors. I have seen WICKED many times and each time, people have been moved to tears by its story (and no, not just tweens, but a lot of adults and elderly people.)
Its just really unfortunate that many fans are....lunatics. Sorry to be blunt but its true. I have never gone to do the stage door for that very reason. Its embarrassing. And coming on here and seeing many "fans" of the show act like morons makes me kind of angry. And it has given WICKED a bad name because of it.
But back to the topic. Universal, in my opinion, has to be careful with this. I think where the true beauty of WICKED comes out is during the darker scenes. If you go back to the original cast, and more recently, the Dutch/German casts, the darker edge of the musical showed. I'm not saying that there aren't fluff moments, because there is. But "No Good Deed", "For Good", "March of the Witch Hunters"," No One Mourns the Wicked" and various others can be truly haunting. And I think in order for the movie to be remotely good, they will have to delve into both aspects of the script, but touch a bit more on the dark side.
Sorry for the grammatical errors. I am hardly keeping my eyes open right now haha

[all that jazz]

If by rabid and lunatic fans you guys meant me, I' sorry to disappoint you but I'm not. Wicked is not remotely my favorite show, I just happen to get very excited every time a movie musical is being made.

Fingerlakesinger, I agree with what you said about the darker themes, that's why they need a director with a clear and innovative vision. As long as he gets real singers and doesn't butcher the score, Tim Burton would be ideal for this project. Afterall he already brought to life, beautifully, another fantasy land, wonderland.

[Jordan Catalano]

Tim Burton? lol

If they're doing a film that wants to explore the truly dark themes of the story, than get a Del Toro, Cuaron, Fincher, Demme, or to truly bring out the fvcked up world of Oz maybe even Gilliam.

But Tim Burton? LOL

[all that jazz]

Those are all great choices, specially Cuaron.
Yes, Burton might seem too mainstream nowadays, but remember this is a very commercial project, and Burton is one of those few directors who can be considered household names for most of the population. Plus it needs dark elements, but the whole piece can't be dark. I personally really love his style and I think he was successful in transforming the wonderland America knew and loved into something new. Oz is deeply engraved in the American culture as a very particular world so it will be a bit tricky to transform it without taking out the classic elements which the audience already expects.

[Kad]

If Burton's Alice in Wonderland is the bar you want to set for Wicked, well...

If they wanted to explore the darker elements of the story, they'd need to get rid of Winnie Holzman's lousy book, which turned a complex, pitch dark novel into a teen rom-com after school special.

[Patronus]

Burton is a lot of things, but "dark" isn't one of them. He makes Disney films for the goth kids. Nothing "dark" about it.

You want dark? Let's see Darren Aronofsky direct this film. The double-sided dildo dance segment during "Dancing Through Life" would be inspired!

[all that jazz]

No, obviously I want Wicked to be much bigger than Wonderland, but overall I really liked the film. Burton was my first thought, but certainly there are better suited directors for this project.

To be honnest I can't really picture a musical with a song like "Popular" being a dark piece.

Aronofsky is indeed an isnpired choice for this project. He was my first choice for Jekyll and Hyde as well.

[Kad]

Burton used to do dark very well, until about 10 years ago when he decided he could patent his German Expressionist angles and jerky spirals and make bank.

[Patronus]

I like Tim Burton as much as the next guy and while his style is unconventional I can't think of anything he's done that I'd truly call dark.

Unless we're simply talking about using darker shading and camera lenses.

When I dark I think of deep, uncomfortable and eerie.

[somethingwicked]

The most recent rumor has been that Universal is courting Stephen Daldry to direct the WICKED movie.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

I've been wanting this movie to be done for years and I'm seriously going to injure someone if Tim Burton directs.

[all that jazz]

I feel your pain Ginger, that's how I felt about animation.

[Jordan Catalano]

You kids need a non WICKED related hobby.

[Patronus]

Yeah, something really dark. Like Parcheesi!

[Jordan Catalano]

Or some of them hungry ass hippos.

[Patronus]

Or some mo farking Cooties!

[Jordan Catalano]

Now THAT'S dark and twisted.

[Patronus]

I just laid it down Burton style, bee yatches!

[all that jazz]

Wicked is not my hobby!! If this thread weren't here I wouldn't be talking about it.

[Jordan Catalano]

I highly doubt there's a lot of truth in that statement.

[all that jazz]

I'm always obsessed with a different musical, at the moment is Les Mis. I've had my wicked moments but they're usually very brief.

My hobby is tumblr.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

WICKED is not my hobby, theater is my hobby. I just happen to enjoy WICKED. Just like I enjoy other shows.