Wicked to Earn Special Sing-Along Screenings After Star Supported Crowd Participation

For the Wicked fans that have wanted to sing along with all of your favorite songs at the movie theater (but respectfully kept “Defying Gravity” to a murmur to preserve the cinematic experience of others), your chance has finally come. Universal Pictures is going to be releasing a sing-along version of Wicked into theaters in just a couple of weeks, allowing for everyone in attendance to participate in the music together.

Universal announced on Tuesday that sing-along screenings of Wicked will be hitting theaters on Christmas Day. More than 1,000 theaters across the country will be participating in the Wicked sing-along, giving plenty of fans the opportunity to show off their best “The Wizard and I” to room full of strangers.

“The overwhelming response to Wicked has been remarkable,” said Jim Orr, president of domestic theatrical distribution for Universal Pictures. “These sing-along screenings offer fans a unique opportunity to become part of the story they’ve embraced so enthusiastically. There’s something extraordinarily special about experiencing this beloved musical together as a community, and we’re thrilled to create that opportunity this holiday season.”

All of the Wicked sing-along screenings are going to be presented in standard format, so they won’t be popping up in IMAX or anything like that. Additionally, Universal has said that most theaters will have multiple showtimes on December 25th.

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This is a big move for Wicked fans, as the topic of singing along with the film in theaters has been something of a hot-button issue throughout Hollywood. Many have stressed that it isn’t exactly fair to everyone else in the theater to hear one person’s voice over top of the actual movie they paid money to see — which is correct. Some, however, have tried to argue the opposite, stating that paying for a ticket allows someone to completely ignore everyone else around them.

Still, there is a passionate fanbase for Wicked, and it’s clear that Universal and those involved with the film want to give those dedicated fans a way to take part in the music without disrupting the experience of others. That’s what makes the sing-along screenings such a great move. This gives everyone the ability to experience the film in the way they choose to experience it.

To this point, Wicked has been an enormous success at the box office, and the sing-along screenings will only help push it further. Already the highest-grossing Broadway musical adaptation in history, Wicked has made more than $457 million at the box office.