Wicked Fans Launch Petition to Ban James Corden From Movie

After years of being in the works, Universal’s Wicked movie is finally on its way to becoming a reality. Late last week, it was revealed that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have been cast as Glinda and Elphaba in the upcoming film. This update provides the biggest update yet on the movie musical, which will be helmed by Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights‘ John M. Chu. While a lot is still unknown about the movie and its remaining cast, one worry among fans has popped up — and resulted in a pretty popular petition. A Change.org petition has launched that is simply titled “Keep James Corden out of Wicked the movie”, asking for Chu and Universal not to cast actor and late night host James Corden in the film.

“James Corden in no way shape or form should be in or near the production of Wicked the movie. That’s pretty much it,” the petition, which has over 70,000 signatures at the time of this reading, reads. The goal of the petition is 75,000 goals.

In recent years, Corden has unintentionally developed a reputation for being in movie musicals, appearing in Into the Woods, The Prom, Cinderella, and — perhaps most infamously — Cats. Corden portrayed Bustopher Jones in the 2019 film, a performance that was particularly panned and joked about on social media.

“Do not be beguiled by other versions [of Bustopher],” Cats creator Andrew Lloyd Webber said in 2020. “Other versions with unfunny interpolations which I begged to be cut out. I did manage to get the worst of them removed. I cannot tell you how absolutely un-[T.S.] Eliot it all was in this song.”

In Wicked, Grande will be playing Glinda, the character made famous by Kristin Chenowith, while Erivo is taking on the role of Elphaba, the witch originally played by Idina Menzel. Both Chenoweth and Menzel were nominated for the Best Actress Tony award after the show’s Broadway debut in 2003, with Menzel ultimately taking home the prize.

What do you think of the petition to keep James Corden out of the Wicked movie? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!