Not since Barbie has a movie been hyped more than Wicked. It’s inescapable on the algorithm; you cannot scroll without being assaulted by trailers, endless behind-the-scenes clips, and most entertaining of all, snippets of interviews with the co-stars of the movie, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, during their bizarre press junket that has seen the duo break out in song and break down in tears. A lot.
Perhaps offline you’ve noticed one of the film’s more than 400 brand partnerships, including Bloomingdale’s, Starbucks, and Lexus, or the Today show’s Wicked week. The movie has a hefty two hour, 40-minute runtime and a heftier $350 million budget for both films—Part II comes out next year—and it seems that the campaign will not cease until everyone with eyeballs turns into a raging theater kid.
The movie made $163 million in its opening weekend, making it the highest grossing adaptation of a Broadway musical ever. But that’s not the main way to measure its impact. Wicked’s success is not just a blockbuster; it marks the cultural triumph of the theater kid.
