Yahoo Lifestyle Adam McKay Says ‘Wicked’ Could Be ‘Banned in 3-5 Years’ if ‘America Keeps Going on the Track It Is’ and ‘I Wouldn’t Be Surprised’
“Wicked” was briefly pulled from theaters in Kuwait, allegedly due to its LGBTQ cast, but could the blockbuster musical ever be fully banned in the United States? Filmmaker Adam McKay “wouldn’t be surprised” if the film was pulled in the next few years because of where America is headed politically.
The “Don’t Look Up” director shared his “Wicked” thoughts on X on Tuesday, writing: “On a pure storytelling level ‘Wicked Part 1’ is right up there as one of the most radical big studio Hollywood movies ever made. I know ‘Part 2’ swings back to the center a bit but ‘Part 1’ is nakedly about radicalization in the face of careerism, fascism, propaganda.”
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He continued, “What’s really striking about ‘Wicked Part 1’ is that it’s coming out NOW when America has never been more right wing and propagandized. And yes, I know the theatrical production and the book are much older so part of the timing is a coincidence but still…”
While replying to another X user surprised about his take on the film, McKay wrote, “I think you’ll be shocked. If America keeps going on the track it is I wouldn’t be surprised to see the movie banned in 3-5 years.”
McKay is no stranger to political films. His most recent movie, 2021’s “Don’t Look Up,” was a timely apocalyptic thriller about how the world would respond (poorly) to a cataclysmic meteor. Prior to that, he directed “Vice,” a political satire about former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, and “The Big Short,” about the 2007 U.S. housing market crash. He likened “Wicked” to other “radical big studio” films like “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” “The Sound of Music,” “The Searchers,” “Citizen Kane” and “The Hunger Games.” Of the 2012 Jennifer Lawrence movie, he wrote: “That’s a big one. It’s incredibly left wing.”
He continued that “Wicked” is “VERY radical. My daughter told me the book is wild and worth a read,” McKay added of the 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” which inspired the Broadway musical.
“Wicked” is expected to be a best picture nominee at the Oscars, and it recently picked up Golden Globe nods for best musical/comedy and acting nominations for Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
McKay raved about Grande’s performance as Glinda, writing: “Also Ariana Grande is incredible. It’s as good a performance as you’ll find in any genre.”
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