THE “WORLD’S” OPINION – MUST SEE
Initially, the term “blockbuster” described an extremely powerful bomb, capable of blowing up an entire neighborhood. He moved into the field of cinema to define a programmed success where the budget of the marketing campaign often exceeds that of the film. We thought of this military origin of the word in front Wickedan adaptation with great fanfare of the musical of the same name: launched on Broadway in 2003, it broke records for longevity and has since been exported to more than ten countries.
This preview evening, in the immense hall of the Grand Rex, a horde of teenagers stamped on their seats, raised their smartphones to immortalize sequences, applauded at times without us understanding why. The experience was that of a complete phase shift, as if the process initiated by Barbie, by Greta Gerwig (2023) had here come to fruition.
What exactly is it? That of a Hollywood which rearms and reconfigures itself before our eyes, completely renews the idea it has of its audience. He imagines her young, feminine, attentive to questions of inclusiveness and representation. Wicked addresses him, gives him everything, exhausts himself to please him and entertain him – he gives him body. It was the marketing director of Universal who himself entrusted it to Variety : “If you create something that is truly an event for women, they will come. Barbie proved this to a stratospheric level. We found hope there: that we could be a version of this same phenomenon. »
Prequel to “The Wizard of Oz”
Fresh out of the cinema after seeing Wickedthe spectator becomes a consumer: it is for her that the thousands of trinkets bearing the image of the film are intended, born from a close collaboration between the studio and more than 400 brands.
The two-part adaptation of the theatrical hit cost a whopping $300 million (286 million euros). At the helm: Jon M. Chu, new golden boy who made himself known with the beautiful franchise Sexy Dance and the immense success of Crazy Rich Asians (2018), with a 100% Chinese-American cast. The filmmaker is an adroit portraitist of a politically aware, multicultural American youth who does not say no to Hollywood sweets.
This is exactly the program of Wickedprequel to Wizard of Oz which focuses on the evil Green Witch, unforgettably played by Margaret Hamilton in Victor Fleming's film (1939). We are in the land of Oz, where Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is born who, because she was born with green skin, lives a reclusive and painful existence. Now a young woman, she manages to enter the prestigious Shiz University alongside her disabled sister.
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