If Wicked: For Good left you wanting more adventures in the merry old land of Oz, then we have some thrillifying news.
The critical and box office success of the two-part film adaptation—directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo—has prompted Universal to start exploring subsequent projects set in the same universe.
Will there be more Wicked movies after Wicked: For Good?
“Because of Wicked’s success but also the fanship, we have almost a responsibility to figure out how we can continue in this universe,” Chief Marketing Officer at Universal Pictures Michael Moses, recently told Vulture. “Have we figured it out yet? No. But there are things underway.”
While the hit Broadway musical that inspired the films is one complete story, the studio can go back to the original literary source material by author Gregory Maguire, which comprises four novels.
“I think the Glinda and Elphaba story feels complete—but there are other aspects that could be explored,” Wicked lyricist and composer Stephen Schwarz remarked during an interview with The Ankler. “Gregory Maguire, the original Wicked novelist, has several books, for example. But there’s another idea that Winnie [Holzman, writer of the musical and films] and I are discussing: not a sequel, but an adjunct. Let me put it that way.”
Two of Maguire’s sequels—Son of a Witch (2005) and Out of Oz (2011)—revolve around Elphaba’s descendants, while the third, A Lion Among Men (2008), is told from the perspective of the Cowardly Lion (Colman Domingo in the film).
So, there’s ample material to adapt if Universal ends up pursuing the Wicked-Verse. In the meantime, they can enjoy For Good‘s hot box office streak with nearly $400 million grossed worldwide at the time of publication.
“It would be a wicked mistake to not endeavor to expand the great and powerful Wicked film universe, given the unprecedented outpouring of interest by passionate fans around the world in the indelible music, ensemble cast, iconic characters, Oz mythology, and spectacle that these films deliver on the big screen,” Senior Media Analyst at Comscore Paul Dergarabedian, told SYFY WIRE over email. “Hollywood adaptations of Broadway musicals have had mixed results at the box office over the years but with the Wicked franchise, the filmmakers and studio have cracked the code on how to perfectly produce, market, distribute, and exhibit these films on the big screen.”
“There are few worlds that the Wicked brand cannot conquer,” he concluded, “and so, it behooves the studio, particularly given the success of Wicked: For Good, to expand this epic franchise so that it can keep paying creative and financial dividends for decades to come.”