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Alongside star-studded moments and the beginning of a whole new era for the music industry’s brightest star, this year’s Super Bowl also gave us a first-look at the long-awaited film version of Wicked.
The long-running West End and Broadway favourite, based on the classic story of The Wizard Of Oz, is being turned into a new movie musical, starring Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo and chart-topping pop superstar Ariana Grande in the lead roles.
During Sunday night’s Super Bowl, a minute-long “first look” at the new film was released, showing Cynthia in action as Elphaba for the first time, as well as appearances from cast members Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum and Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh.
However, not everyone was impressed with the trailer.
Many were upset that, aside from a quick blast of Defying Gravity at the beginning and end, none of the characters were heard singing in the trailer, likening it to teasers for recent big-screen musicals Wonka and Mean Girls…
I guess Wicked joins Mean Girls in "movies that are musicals but studio execs think audiences don't like musicals so they put millions into a musical only to not advertise it as a musical to trick people who don't like musicals into watching it"????
— blergh blergh coff coff ough ough blergh (@Sumuluma) February 11, 2024
I don't understand why Hollywood continuously tries to downplay/hide when a movie is a musical. The Wicked trailer almost completely hides the music, even though everyone knows it's a musical! They also hid the fact that Wonka and Mean Girls were musicals. Like, fuckin stop lol
— Gneisha 🐾 (@_Gneisha) February 12, 2024
Just so y’all are aware, Wicked is a musical. You wouldn’t know it from the trailer, didn’t want anyone walking into the movie and being shocked when people start singing.
— Matt Scalici (@MattScalici) February 11, 2024
If your trailer is trying to hide the fact that the film version of one of the most popular musicals ever is, in fact, a musical, I think you may have lost the plot a bit https://t.co/x27XtUr2aO
— Schaffrillas (@Schaffrillas) February 12, 2024
A Wicked trailer with no singing……………
— Margaret Wartime (@sryimnotsorry1) February 11, 2024
you can say this about wonka, maybe mean girls, and I’d get it. but WICKED? not even a trailer a TEASER for WICKED? https://t.co/gsDgXYziUn
— browntoast.bsky.social 💜 (@browntoastyy) February 12, 2024
I don’t understand why movie musicals won’t promote themselves as musicals.
Incredibly shocked that WICKED, Broadways biggest show, is just did the mean girls “shh don’t tell them we sing” trailer.— Emma Stevens (@emcatco) February 11, 2024
Imagine not showing ANY SINGING in your trailer for Wicked.
And imagine doing that after Mean Girls bombed for people not knowing it was a musical.
Good lord.
— Reverend Zachary Whitten, Most Elder Millennial (@ZacharyWhitten) February 11, 2024
I’ve complained about ads for movie musicals hiding their musical status to trick audiences into watching musicals — Color Purple, Wonka, Mean Girls 2024 — but this may be a new low. Anyone who knows “Wicked” KNOWS it’s a musical, but this trailer doesn’t give that vibe. https://t.co/KtCAeAuWyK
— Nathan Deal (@NattyD13) February 12, 2024
Oh lawd, is the #Wicked teaser trailer also doing that whole hiding-the-fact-it’s-a-musical thing in the trailer too?
(Ala Mean Girls and Wonka) https://t.co/ZIraV5Nh7N— Luke Hearfield (@LukeHearfield) February 12, 2024
They're not gonna market the fact that Wicked is a musical, huh?
— Shakzilla Minus One (@ShakExcellence) February 11, 2024
#Wicked Teaser: I'm very VERY tired of trailers for musicals not including singing. Having said that, this looks like it could be a good cinematic beef up of the Broadway show. https://t.co/GN2glpc9zg
— Brian K Myers (@fluffyman85) February 12, 2024
They did the Mean Girls musical tactic of showing no singing with the Wicked trailer.
— kereD (@i__m__kered) February 12, 2024
Is there some Stigma against musicals in the film industry? Cause like, Wicked is one of the most popular musicals of the modern day and there’s no singing in the trailer? This happened with Wonka too. Do people really think no one will go see a musical in theaters? https://t.co/LGj5Rt3888
— Kaira (@Kairation) February 12, 2024
Wait, did the commercial for Wicked try to downplay that it was a musical? Market research be damned, the CGI is not a bigger sell than being one of the most popular musicals of all time #SuperBowl2024
— Sara Bibel (@deepsoap) February 11, 2024
Others took a different approach, pointing out that Cynthia’s voice could still be heard in the clip, while noting that Wicked is already popular enough as a musical that it doesn’t necessarily need to advertise itself as such…
y’all keep comparing the wicked teaser not focusing on it being a musical to mean girls but those just aren’t the same thing. wicked doesn’t have to market itself as a musical. ITS A WELL KNOWN MUSICAL! the majority of people who know wicked KNOW it’s a musical.
— may💋🤍 (@kenobispov) February 12, 2024
I feel like the people who know what Wicked is are pretty aware. Don’t think this is necessarily comparable to “The Color Purple” (great movie btw) and “Mean Girls” https://t.co/8xSwjXMGqi
— Muhammad Alinked-in (@PBSImpulse9) February 11, 2024
1) there is singing in the trailer? did we watch the same trailer?
2) wicked is a known musical, one of the most established and successful there is..
3) this is a TEASER trailer, there’s 9 months until the film’s release – they’ll show more music closer to the release
— ☀️ (@attentionforari) February 12, 2024
they’re literally singing in the trailer ….. and there’s no way no one knows wicked is a musical https://t.co/iktNRcIUnFpic.twitter.com/cWHys9hnqn
— david 🦦 (@angcldavid) February 12, 2024
wicked is a very popular and well-known musical, there's literally singing in the trailer, and it features ariana fucking grande. how much more obvious could it be ?? 😭 https://t.co/W8MJgbXWIv
— percy 💌 (@spiderpnk) February 12, 2024
it’s a *TEASER* trailer and they’re singing on it + everyone knows wicked is a musical, there’s no way they could hide it to begin with.
— ale 💋 (@17POSITIONS) February 12, 2024
THERE'S LITERALLY SINGING IN THE TRAILER.
Literally ANYONE who has any interest in this film, or knows anything about The Wizard Of Oz, is 100% aware that Wicked is a musical.
It's literally one of the most acclaimed / successful musicals of all time>
— Sam 🎬 (@samspeaksmovies) February 12, 2024
It was previously revealed that Wicked was being split into two films, the first of which will hit cinemas later this year.
Wicked first arrived on Broadway in 2003, and scooped 10 Tony nominations, including wins for its original lead actor Idina Menzel. It eventually opened in London in 2006, and remains open to this day.
Wicked is due for release in the UK on 27 November 2024.
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