One of the most groundbreaking movies ever made is flying into the HBO Max streaming chart more than 85 years after it was considered a cinema flop. Wicked: For Good is topping the worldwide box office charts and, as a result, 1939’s The Wizard of Oz is proving to be a popular choice for HBO Max subscribers.
As if it needs any introduction, The Wizard of Oz tells the story of Dorothy Gale, a girl from Kansas who finds herself being blown over the rainbow to the Land of Oz, where she meets some colorful characters and a terrifying Wicked Witch out for revenge. The film stars Judy Garland as Dorothy, her most iconic role, and one that has transcended generations of movie-lovers, remaining as beloved now as when it wowed audiences as the first movie to use color on screen.
The movie holds a near perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 98% on the Tomatometer, and is widely regarded as a true definition of the word “masterpiece.” While there have been many other attempts to tell the story in several other forms, none have been able to match the vivid visuals and perfectly pitched story that The Wizard of Oz delivers for audiences young and old.
‘Wicked: For Good’ Features Several Elements of ‘The Wizard of Oz’
When Gregory Maguire wrote Wicked in the mid-1990s, no one could have envisioned it becoming not only a massive Broadway musical but a two-part cinematic epic that looks likely to result in a combined $1.5 billion box office or above. While 2024’s Wicked charted Elphaba’s rise to notoriety, Wicked: For Good moves along the timeline to crossover with The Wizard of Oz in several ways.
Wicked: For Good includes origin stories for Dorothy’s three Yellow Brick Road companions, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion, and then the girl herself arrives in Oz, leading to the well-known confrontation with the Wicked Witch of the West. Several key scenes from The Wizard of Oz play out during the events of the new movie, and while the film cleverly decides not to over-emphasize the presence of Dorothy by not focusing on her face at any time, the references to the 1939 movie have clearly made many people feel nostalgic enough to seek it out on streaming.
Although The Wizard of Oz was considered a box office disappointment when it was released, with the film making $3 million from it’s then massive $2.7 million budget on its first theatrical run. Obviously, with re-releases and home video releases, the film has since made an incredible profit for a movie believed to be a bit of a dud 86 years ago.
Wicked: For Good is certainly never going to be considered in the same way, with the movie’s opening weekend delivering a $226 million worldwide haul, almost turning a profit immediately from the $150 million budget. In addition to this, audiences have actually rated the movie higher than The Wizard of Oz (which has an 89% score), giving it a 97% Popcornmeter score, significantly higher than its 70% Tomatometer rating.
While not everything lines up when watching The Wizard of Oz right after Wicked, that hasn’t stopped many people seeking it out to take another trip down one of the best-kept and most-famous roads in cinema history.
- Release Date
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August 25, 1939
- Runtime
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102 minutes
- Director
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Victor Fleming
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Judy Garland
Dorothy Gale
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Ray Bolger
“Hunk” / Scarecrow
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Jack Haley
“Hickory” / Tin Man
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Bert Lahr
“Zeke” / Cowardly Lion
