First Wicked After hitting theaters last year, Oz felt inevitable. Trailer after trailer followed, clips and TV spots, brand deals—and yes, the press tour felt like it went on forever, with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande feeding new memes on social media every other week for several months (who still has room left for the lyrics to “Defying Gravity”?). But with its continuation, Wicked: For the good, Closer to arriving in theaters, things have definitely felt different: less meme-y interviews, and way, way more. way More brand collaborations.
for good For better or worse, it’s somehow managed to create its own viral moments, as happened in Singapore this week when a fan attacked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, causing a safety scare — but the rollout period for the second film has definitely been shortened. for goodThe first trailer for Super Bowl 2024 hit in the summer, six months before its release, while its predecessor Super Bowl 2024 debuted nine months earlier. Its stars have appeared in curated fan events and premiere rollouts (or special broadcasts such as Wicked: A Wonderful Night) rather than at press junkets covering 2024.
The reason? Universal wanted to be a little Less This year compared to “just short of unpleasant”, according to Universal’s chief marketing officer, Michael Moses (via Variety ). for good Getting to ride on witchy coattails in a big way Wicked‘s marketing campaign is already working to make the franchise a cultural moment. Universal has spent approximately $90 million in promotion for good That compares to the $150 million spent on the first film in 2024. Instead, all that promo has been replaced with merchandise and more.
According to Variety, while the number of brand collabs for good has tallied a total of identical matches to the original film – around 400 – with only 165 of them being repeat collaborations. With Universal rolling out more and more absurd partnerships weekly for months as part of “Wicked Wednesdays” (“highlights” include Lexus ads, wildly priced American Girl dolls, and yes, Glinda and Elphaba-themed Swiffer mops), the theme of Return to Oz has been about getting audiences to spend, spend, spend, rather than the studio.
Universal may also benefit from this. for good Currently tracking to open even bigger WickedThe film debuted to $112 million, and became the first film to gross three-quarters of a billion dollars worldwide. Can lightning strike twice in Emerald City? Somehow, Oz has become one of the hottest locations in Hollywood.
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