Who Almost Directed Wicked?

Musical theater geeks have been waiting for a proper Wicked movie for so long now. The musical debuted on Broadway back in October 2003 and is only just now getting a feature film adaptation in November 2024. This Jon M. Chu directorial effort is arriving after a lengthy development process that saw countless creative teams come and go on the production. Elphaba can defy gravity, but even she could not escape the gravitational pull of development Hell. For so many years, it seemed like Wicked was destined to be one of the great, unmade musical movies.

Now, of course, Wicked is just days away from release. With its theatrical release imminent, it’s worth remembering Chu was not always the first choice to helm Wicked. Back in 2016, Stephen Daldry was set to direct this musical film and even stayed on the project for four long years. Given his lengthy commitment to Wicked, it’s worth asking: what happened to Daldry’s version of this movie?

Stephen Daldry’s First Taste of Wicked-ness

Stephen Daldry’s award-season track record as a filmmaker is truly impressive. He made his feature-length directorial debut with Billy Elliot in 2000, which became a critical darling and garnered Daldry his first Best Director Oscar nomination. After that, Daldry helmed three consecutive Best Picture Oscar nominees: The Hours, The Reader, and Extremely Loud & Incredible Close. Two of those titles not only garnered Daldry further Best Director Oscar nominations, but also secured actors like Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet Oscar wins. From 2000 to 2011, Daldry’s movies were bulletproof during awards’ season.

It’s important to remember that when considering why Universal zeroed in on Daldry as the perfect person to finally bring Wicked to life. After Chicago took home the Best Picture Oscar, musical movies have been seen by studios as a very likely way to score awards’ season glory. Best Picture nominees for subsequent musical movies like La La Land, Les Miserables, and West Side Story have reinforced this perception. Getting Daldry for Wicked back in 2016 suggested Universal saw enormous Oscar potential in this Oz tale. Before a frame of footage was shot, Universal was displaying tremendous confidence in Wicked’s potential.

In June 2017, Daldry started talking publicly about Wicked, mostly saying that the project was “a little way off.” A December 2019 release date was set, but Daldry confirmed that, at that time, there was no script set for this musical adaptation. Besides, his attention was then focused on directing a pair of Season 2 episodes of The Crown and the merry land of Oz would have to wait. By the end of the year, Daldry did confirm that his Wicked movie would start filming in 2018, but he remained vague in terms of what the project would look like or casting ambitions for the proposed feature.

Wicked Faces Delays

Two years passed and nary a major new word emerged about Daldry’s Wicked movie. In August 2018, the inevitable happened and Universal plucked Wicked from its release schedule. That December 2019 date now went to Cats, a movie musical that would not quite reach the status of Oscar darling. A few months later, Universal would set a December 2021 date for Wicked, with Daldry still onboard to direct. That same year, Wicked songwriter Stephen Schwartz first publicly commented on fan-casting of Ariana Grande as Glinda. He excitedly said she would be his first choice for the part, but noted Daldry held all the cards when it came to casting.

That comment reflects how, as late as fall 2019, Daldry was still the head creative honcho on Wicked. At the time, Daldry was immersed in the Broadway production The Inheritance, limiting his availability to talk publicly about his Wicked plans. What exactly Daldry’s vision was for this long-stewing musical movie adaptation remained shrouded in mystery. The already-beleaguered project suffered another massive setback when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the entertainment industry in March 2020. Making that December 2021 date was now impossible, and Daldry’s time on the project was officially numbered.

In October 2020, Daldry left Wicked after years of serving as its director. Reportedly, the exit stemmed from scheduling conflicts and especially the impossibility of shooting Wicked in Daldry’s home of London. In hindsight, it’s also worth mentioning that, by 2020, it’d been nearly a decade since Daldry helmed a Best Picture nominated movie. What looked like an ideal choice in the mid-2010s wasn’t quite as perfect in 2020. A few months later, Jon M. Chu signed on to direct and principal photography finally began on Wicked (now split into two movies at the end of 2022).

Stephen Daldry’s Wicked Is Shrouded in Mystery

As of this writing, no concept art or definitive story beats from Daldry’s Wicked adaptation have leaked that would lend the general public a glimpse into what he had planned for this project. In hindsight, it seems like Wicked, even with Daldry in the director’s chair and various release dates planned, remained in stasis until Chu came on board. That’s when the musical movie began racing toward existence like a bullet train. There was no word on Daldry’s specific ambitions for adapting this musical, nor were key crew members like cinematographers hired that would illuminate his vision for Wicked.

All these factors mean Daldry’s Wicked is a nebulous mirage. This Broadway veteran’s ambitions for Wicked will likely remain permanently unknown, especially since this man isn’t exactly a chatterbox force of nature on social media. Given how heavily anticipated Chu’s Wicked is, it’s doubtful most moviegoers will even be aware of, let alone express curiosity for, the Stephen Daldry Wicked movie that never was. Still, devotees of musicals and unmade movies will undoubtedly ponder what the Billy Elliot helmer would’ve brought to this project.

Would he have also split Wicked into two movies? Was Ariana Grande a shoo-in casting-wise no matter who directed? Would Daldry have embraced a grimmer, more “realistic” color palette? These are the questions we will never get definitive answers to given how Daldry’s Wicked is as concealed from the general public as the Wizard of Oz himself!