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Ahead of Wicked: For Good‘s release in late November, the first wave of reactions have popped up on social media. Overall, critics think very highly of the movie, praising the performances of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, as well as Chu’s ability to successfully expand upon the source material while staying true to the original story. Check out a sampling of tweets in the space below:
Is Wicked: For Good a Threat To Win Best Picture?
Assuming these reactions are a sign of what’s to come, Wicked: For Good should emerge as one of the year’s leading awards contenders. It’ll be interesting to see how it fares with voters in the build up to Oscar nominations. There are instances where sequels do not garner as much support as their predecessors. One only has to look to last year for an example of that, as Dune: Part Two won two Oscars from five nominations (after Dune won six Oscars from 10 nominations). Similarly, Avatar: The Way of Water didn’t earn as many nominations as the 2009 original. Furthermore, only six actors in history have received multiple nominations for playing the same character, a stat that seemingly doesn’t favor Erivo’s or Grande’s odds.
That said, Wicked: For Good is an epic finale, so perhaps it could go the route of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and score some big wins. The Academy could look to use Wicked: For Good as a way to reward the filmmakers for the full two-film project, recognizing the accomplishment of bringing the fan-favorite musical to the big screen. If Erivo and Grande continue to earn high marks for their performances, both could find themselves in that rare company of multiple nominations for the same role. The acting races seem fairly wide open at this point in time (though Jessie Buckley has emerged as a frontrunner for Hamnet), so Universal will surely put together a passionate campaign for their two stars.
