On Thursday night, social media was flooded with joyous reactions to the announcement that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will star in the film adaptation of the musical “Wicked.”
But fans were equally quick to express who they did not want to see anywhere near the Emerald City — “Late Late Show” host and perennial movie musical trouper James Corden.
A Change.org petition created the following day titled “Keep James Corden out of Wicked the movie” has gathered 36,000 signatures and counting.
The demands of the petition, written by Mikel Miller and addressed to Universal Pictures is clear:
“James Corden in no way shape or form should be in or near the production of Wicked the movie. That’s pretty much it.”
Anyone familiar with Corden’s “Late Late Show” guest track record knows there is cause for concern. Grande has appeared on his CBS program and performed showtunes with him on “Carpool Karaoke” numerous times, among other performances by the pair. Erivo has guest starred on his late night show as well.
Additionally, Corden has had a role in nearly every big-budget musical movie in the last several years. After playing the Baker in 2014’s “Into The Woods,” he got his paws dirty as Bustopher Jones in the notorious “Cats” (2019), featured as Barry Glickman in “The Prom” (2020), and even played a mouse named James in this year’s “Cinderella” adaptation. The Brit even won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in 2012!
Beyond Erivo playing Elphaba and Grande playing Glinda for director Jon M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “In The Heights”), no further casting announcements have been made – but musical aficionados and Corden detractors are simply not sitting back. And when more names are added, Universal Studios can bet that they will have something to say.
At present, the film is set to begin production in summer 2022 in London. Based on the Gregory Maguire’s “The Wizard of Oz” prequel novel, “Wicked” first debuted in 2003 and has become one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history. The film will be based on the novel and musical book by Winnie Holzman.
