'Wicked' Movie Coming in 2019, Maybe

You've had to wait a long time for a movie adaptation of the hit stage musical Wicked, and you're still going to have to wait quite a while longer. But now at least you know exactly how long you'll be waiting. Universal this week announced a definite release date for the movie that's been many years, so far, in the making.

Wicked will come to theaters on December 20, 2019. That's three and a half years from now and a full 16 and a half years after the musical first took to the stage in 2003. The show is an adaptation of Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel, which is itself a reimagining of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The original Broadway production won three Tony Awards and starred Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth and Joel Grey.

Wicked was originally conceived as a film project, but its producers decided to take it to the stage first, and the expected film adaptation has been extremely slow in development. The idea has been floating around since at least 2004, and director Stephen Daldry has been attached to the project since 2012. In 2014, producers announced that they were shooting for a 2016 release date, so this week's announcement, though definite, represents yet another lengthy delay for the film.