"I will tell you 100 percent there will be a movie of 'Wicked' and it won't be that far away, but it won't be next year, because we're still writing," says Stephen Schwartz about the upcoming film adaptation of his Broadway hit.
It was announced
last month that the movie adaption of popular musical
Wicked was moved off of its original December 20, 2019, release date. “That was always a fake date. There wasn't a prayer in hell,” says Stephen Schwartz, the man behind the stage musical.
Schwartz talked to
THR Thursday evening at the Songs of Hope gala benefiting cancer research, where he was being honored with the Warner/Chappell Music "Icon of Hope" Award.
Though it's delayed, Schwartz offers assurance that things are still progressing with the movie: “We're making really good progress. The screenplay has gone through a few drafts. In fact, while I'm out here, I'm going to be seeing Winnie [Holzman], and we're working on the most recent draft.”
Holzman wrote the book for the stage version of
Wicked and is now working on the screenplay. “When we're ready, we'll go," Schwartz says. "But we want to make sure we're ready. It won't be forever, but it also won't be next year."
'Wicked' Creator Reveals Fate of the Movie Musical | Hollywood Reporter