Why We Don’t Want James Corden in the ‘Wicked’ Movie

On Nov. 4, director Jon M. Chu announced that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande had been cast in the upcoming movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “Wicked.” Erivo and Grande were cast in the main roles of Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. The casting announcement was met with both praise and criticism from fans.

“Wicked,” which retells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz,” is one of the most beloved and longest-running musicals on Broadway. For most stage shows that reach this level of fame — such as “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Les Misérables” — the inevitable next step is a movie adaptation, thus extending the film’s reach past the insulated world of live theatre and reinforcing its position in the public consciousness.

But despite having opened more than fifteen years ago, “Wicked” has never been adapted for the screen, although that’s not for lack of trying. A movie adaptation of “Wicked” was first confirmed in 2015, and since then, the production has hit several roadblocks. With a release date that was constantly being pushed back, a changing creative team, and no casting announcements in sight, fans became skeptical that a “Wicked” movie was going to happen at all, until Erivo and Grande’s casting was confirmed earlier this month.

The casting of Erivo, a Tony Award-winning actress and singer, was largely received positively. Erivo already has experience both onstage and onscreen, having played the leading role in “The Color Purple” on Broadway as well as the title character of the movie “Harriet.” Her resume, along with her impressive vocal skills, makes her an uncontroversial pick for the iconic role of Elphaba.

Grande’s casting, on the other hand, was met with mixed reactions. While she did perform on Broadway as a teenager, playing a small role in the musical “13,” Grande has spent the bulk of her career as a pop star. Although Grande is clearly a talented vocalist, a number of Glinda’s songs require a classically influenced sound — a vocal style that Grande has rarely, if ever, showcased. It’s certainly possible that she has the ability to pull it off, but as there are next to no recordings of her singing in an operatic style, she’ll have to prove it.

Not all the attention during the “Wicked” casting announcement was on Grande, though. Less than four days after the official release, a Change.org petition was started to keep James Corden out of the “Wicked” movie. The “Late Late Show” host’s appearance in seemingly every new movie musical — including “Cats,” “The Prom,” and “Cinderella” — has led to the public quickly getting tired of him.

“James Corden in no way shape or form should be in or near the production of Wicked the movie,” the petition reads. As of Nov. 18, it has collected over 94,000 signatures.

This vehement mass dislike of James Corden is an interesting development. It was long believed that movie musicals needed to cast well-known Hollywood actors to garner enough public interest for the movie to be a success. For example, Julie Andrews was passed over for Audrey Hepburn in the film version of “My Fair Lady,” despite Andrews having originated the role on Broadway, because Hepburn was more of a household name than Andrews was at the time. Hepburn couldn’t properly sing her part, and her voice was dubbed in the film by Marni Nixon.

“Wicked” seems to be operating by a similar principle — casting a well-known celebrity to boost sales — in casting Ariana Grande, one of the world’s biggest pop stars, as opposed to a professional Broadway actress. But this petition against James Corden is showing that people just aren’t as receptive to celebrity casting as the creative team may think. A famous name on a movie poster isn’t a draw if the chosen celebrity isn’t someone the public likes.

So what led to this preemptive backlash against James Corden’s potential casting? People are finally getting annoyed with how celebrity casting in movie musicals seems like a quick cash grab, particularly when such casting makes no sense. For example, “Cats” had a star-studded and frankly confusing cast of names from Taylor Swift to yes, James Corden, and that didn’t stop it from suffering from rushed CGI, poor box office sales, and general public ridicule. In fact, poor casting arguably made the movie worse. Movie musicals have largely become a vehicle for celebrity hubris, which is disappointing given the genre’s potential for rich and genuine storytelling.

If anyone should understand why musicals don’t need celebrity casting, it would be director Jon M. Chu. His 2021 adaptation of the musical “In the Heights” largely avoided stunt-casting, instead relying on elements such as set design, choreography, and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical score, and the movie was well-received — which is why Grande’s casting in “Wicked” is so singularly frustrating. “Wicked” doesn’t need a celebrity’s name attached to it to be successful.