It seems the Wicked film franchise may not be over just yet.
As Wicked: For Good hits cinemas this week, composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz has revealed that he and longtime collaborator Winnie Holzman are developing a fresh concept rooted in the world of Oz.
Schwartz set the record straight: this new project is not a straightforward sequel. The storylines of Glinda and Elphaba are, in his words, “complete,” so any new Oz tale won’t follow their journeys.
Instead, he and Winnie are “doing some work right now on ideas… that aren’t a sequel to Wicked.” He calls the project an “adjunct.”
“If someone could think of a continuation of the story that seemed to have a justification beyond simply making money, of course,” he clarified.
Schwartz compared Oz’s story potential to the Star Wars galaxy.
“It is a vibrant world — like the Star Wars universe has yielded so many adjacent projects, some of which are truly excellent in their own right,” he said. “And don’t forget that L. Frank Baum didn’t just write The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. There were many subsequent books.”
Universal will likely gauge its next move based on how fans and critics respond to For Good.
Wicked’s first film grossed over $758 million worldwide and scored 10 Oscar nominations, so expectations are high.
We’ll be keeping an eye on this new, not-quite-a-sequel project as it develops.
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