The rise of event cinema and how musicals became cool again

As the second instalment of Wicked prepares to hit Irish cinemas, Aoife Barry examines the rise of 'event cinema' and the enduring appeal of music on screen

Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda in Wicked: For Good

In November 2024, the film Wicked: Part One was everywhere. 

Its marketing campaign centred on a publicity blitz by its stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, and many brand tie-ins. 

It was “just short of obnoxious”, Universal chief marketing officer Michael Moses told Variety. But it worked: Made on a $150m budget, the film grossed $756.4m worldwide.

Fans are now gearing up for the release of part two, Wicked: For Good, on November 21.

For the uninitiated, Wicked is based on a long-running theatre show, itself drawn from a 1995 Gregory Maguire novel. 

It explores the friendship between Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande) and the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo). 

These characters first appeared in L Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The 1939 film starring Judy Garland is an all-time movie classic.

Grande and Erivo had the star power and talent needed to give Wicked: Part One lift-off. 

Yet Aedín Gormley, presenter of Movies and Musicals on RTÉ Lyric FM (Saturdays from 1-4pm), was initially nervous.

“I thought, how is this going to work on screen? And they just did it so brilliantly — I was completely blown away,” she says.

She believes people connect to its “emotionally rich storytelling, the female friendship, incredibly catchy score”, and its star power.

Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda in Wicked: For Good

Wicked: For Good is based on part two of the stage show. However, many fans feel that the second half isn’t as good as the first, Gormley notes. The first half even features Wicked’s big song, Defying Gravity.

“I’m hearing great things about the second part, but I’m wondering how they’re going to keep the momentum,” says Gormley. 

“I think if the new songs are good and if they can keep the momentum going, then great. But I think everyone’s going to go and see it, there’s no doubt about it, because people connect with it very strongly.”

How big is Wicked: For Good for Irish cinemas?

“It’s absolutely huge,” says Alice Black, who is head of cinema at the Light House Group. 

Sales of its double-bill of Wicked: Part One and Wicked: For Good are “through the roof”. 

She says Wicked has a cross-generational appeal: “It’s a film you can bring anyone to.”

Both Gormley and director Brian Reddin say we can trace the success of Wicked to the phenomenally successful 2015 stage musical Hamilton, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“ Hamilton made [musicals] cool again. Apart from The Lion King, musicals weren’t doing that well on Broadway,” says Reddin.

“But when Hamilton came in, that really revolutionised everything. The knock-on effect of that — of kids being into musicals again, and realising that you could rap about what you knew about your own life, and that musicals weren’t all Brigadoon.”

But musicals are not cheap to make.

“If you’re doing a drama, you can multiply [the budget] by two if it’s going to be a musical,” says Reddin. 

That’s why most musicals are not based on fresh, untested material, with the recent exception of Emilia Pérez.

Since 2020, Hollywood has faced the covid pandemic and the LA fires. As a result, risks aren’t easily taken.

“It’s so hard to get movies made, so hard to get any film into the cinemas, and so hard to get bums on seats,” says Reddin. 

One solution to getting music on screen is to find a famous musician with an extensive back catalogue, and make a biopic about them.

“It’s not so much about the story of the musician and their life, but the fact that you can litter it with all those brilliant songs, and you know people are going to go see it because of those songs,” he says. “It’s very cynical, but that’s the truth.”

The 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line won Reese Witherspoon an Oscar

MUSIC AS IP

The 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line won Reese Witherspoon an Oscar, and arguably helped kick off the current trend. 

A Complete Unknown, about Bob Dylan, came out last year, while Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere is in cinemas now. 

In recent years, we’ve had biopics of Elton John ( Rocketman), Freddie Mercury ( Bohemian Rhapsody), Whitney Houston ( I Wanna Dance With Somebody), Amy Winehouse ( Back to Black), and Elvis ( Elvis). 

A biopic about Michael Jackson is due in 2026, while Sam Mendes is behind a four-part Beatles film that stars Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan as Paul and Linda McCartney.

To go back to musicals, perhaps their appeal is simple: Escapism.

“The big Hollywood musicals were in the 1930s and 1940s. Why? Because of the massive depression caused by the Wall Street crash in 1929,” says Reddin. 

“America enters a dark period, goes into the Second World War. Everything’s bleak. People want something to look forward to, something to lift their spirits. And that’s where the musicals thrived.”

In 2025, “we all want to go to Oz”, says Gormley: “We don’t want the sepia colours — please bring us colour, and songs and dances and gorgeous people with fabulous voices singing great songs, and lots of bright lights.”

But musicals can’t just be all spectacle, she says: “You need an emotional centre to it.”

Even feel-good jukebox musical Mamma Mia! had shade as well as light.

“There used to be this thing that musicals have to have a happy ending, but West Side Story has a sad ending, Fiddler on the Roof has a sad ending, and people are okay with that. You just need to be moved,” says Gormley.

Black agrees, adding: “Modern musicals also tend to deal with difficult topics — Wicked is about identity and that struggle as well. So I don’t think they’re entirely about escapism.”

ANOTHER element to the popularity of musicals and music-related films is fandom.

“People were dressing up, wearing pink and green and doing their nails,” says Black of Wicked: Part One screenings. The film even returned to the cinema in a sing-along version.

“Where you get the phenomenal success is when something crosses over into a wider audience. Wicked definitely did that.

“It wasn’t just the fans, it was people who were uninitiated, who came along and then maybe became fans.

“Gathering fans together to watch something has become an important part of musical release strategies for recording artists. It’s really lucrative.”

EVENT CINEMA

This year, Taylor Swift released a film titled The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, which included behind-the-scenes clips. 

In 2023, Beyoncé released the documentary concert film Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. Ticket prices are often higher for these blink-and-you’ll-miss-it limited screenings.

What Black terms ‘event cinema’ — which includes these films and the likes of Wicked: For Good – is “huge” for Irish cinemas.

“When you get that excitement around something, you might also have a retail tie-in or a food and beverage tie-in, and that’s always really helpful for a business,” she says.

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Another recent event film was KPop Demon Hunters. This animated film, which takes its cues from Korea’s massively popular KPop genre, is the most-streamed Netflix release ever. 

Unusually, it was brought to cinemas for a few days, and Black says tickets sold extremely well.

But fandom doesn’t guarantee success. Just ask Robbie Williams. 

The 2024 biopic Better Man “just didn’t connect with people” says Black.

Taylor Swift’s Showgirl film “didn’t do anywhere near as big numbers” as her Eras tour film either.

“Sometimes cashing in doesn’t always work. It’ll be something else that comes along and knocks our socks off,” says Black. 

Another unsuccessful musical was Joker: Folie à Deux, which didn’t even market itself as a musical.

PHASES

Musicals go through phases of popularity. 

The downturn of the classic Hollywood musical came in the mid-20th century, as American culture changed and a counter-culture emerged.

Cinema-goers turned in the 1960s to the grittier New Hollywood films like Bonnie and Clyde. 

Meanwhile, Elvis jump-started music, and television became popular, both further impacting musicals.

“I remember a moment when musicals in the cinema came back — it was ‘we want this again’,” says Gormley.

“2001 was Moulin Rouge, and 2002 was Chicago. If you look at the history of musicals, that’s what happens.”

Right now, musicals are holding tight. And that’s good news for cinema. 

The Light House is back to its pre-covid numbers, says Black: “Even better than 2019, which is universally thought of as one of the best years ever in terms of cinema. The wider industry is getting back there year on year.”

Big tentpole releases and event cinema like Wicked: For Good help, says Black, by reminding people how special the cinema is.

Here in Ireland, we’re nurturing our own musical stars of the future. Gormley’s show Movies and Musicals recently broadcast live during Cork International Film Festival from MTU’s Cork School of Music.

Yet musicals can be marmite.

“You have to be, as an audience member, absolutely comfortable with people breaking into song,” says Gormley. “And some people find that hard. Some people don’t.”

Given the popularity of Wicked, perhaps these days the latter people are in the minority.

• Wicked: For Good will be released in cinemas on November 21