Whoopi Goldberg “Tried Hard” To Get ‘Wicked’ Rights In ’90s

Whoopi Goldberg “Tried Hard” To Get ‘Wicked’ Rights In ’90s

Long before Wicked made the jump from stage to screen, the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel had Hollywood in a frenzy. Jon M. Chu‘s recent movie musical adaptation marks a long journey to the big screen for the Wizard of Oz prequel, with Whoopi Goldberg vying for the rights to Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West shortly after the bestseller’s debut. “This is true,” Goldberg’s rep told Vanity Fair. “Whoopi loved the book and …

Whoopi Goldberg fought hard for the Wicked rights in the '90s

A new piece from Vanity Fair tracks the journey of Wicked from page to screen, and there were some surprising twists and turns on that yellow brick road. If you've read Gregory Maguire's Wicked, you know it's a lot denser and darker than what ended up on Broadway. Nevertheless, it became a bestseller, and had Hollywood nipping at the author's heels. "People who had expressed an interest in the first six months included Whoopi Goldberg and Claire…