Why Hollywood fell out of love with Wicked

The biggest shock of today’s Oscar nominations was that the epic musical sequel “Wicked: For Good,” starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, received zero nominations, even though its predecessor received 10 points. This work demonstrated the dangers of overextending the material.

The Oscar nominations were met with the usual disdain and surprise, with co-star Paul Mescal not receiving a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. hamnetand two different nods to Norway sentimental value Best Supporting Actress. But what surprised me most of all was that it was multiple selection, or maybe even called omni selection. “Wicked: For Good” received no nominations at all.

This was shocking for two reasons. The first is Wicked: For Good ” is part two of the adaptation of the Broadway show, the first of which was released a year ago and received a whopping 10 Oscar nominations. The academy seemed captivated by this colorful prequel to The Wizard of Oz. I loved Elphaba and Glinda, the two iconic witches from Oz, and especially the two actresses who played them, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Why did things take such a disastrous turn that the series’ total Oscar nominations plummeted from 10 to 0?

Another reason the omni snub was unexpected is that at the beginning of awards season, Wicked: For Good appeared to be the leading contender. At the Golden Globe Awards in January, Erivo was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Grande was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. The entire film was shortlisted for cinematic and box office success. And the song received not one, but two nominations for Best Original Song.

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Most commentators expected the Oscars to follow suit and honor Wicked: For Good in at least the Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song categories. The film was nominated for seven technical awards, making hair and makeup, costume design, and production design nominations likely. And since there are 10 spots available on the Best Picture list, there’s a good chance it will be nominated there. The spell was broken surprisingly quickly and completely.

One factor behind this is clear. Wicked: For Good just wasn’t enough. The first film received a score of 88% on the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes, but the second film’s score dropped to 66%. And some critics even dropped a house on top of the film, flattening it. Robbie Collin gave it 1 star review in the Telegraphthe headline declares, “Ariana Grande is painfully moody in frustrating sequel to ‘Wicked.'” Justin Chang’s review published in The New Yorker The title is “Wicked: For Good is Very, Very Bad.”