‘Wicked’ movie soundtrack makes history on ‘Billboard’ charts
David Becker/WireImage via Getty Images
Wicked is defying sales records left and right.
The soundtrack for the film debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart, making it the all-time highest debut for a film adaptation of a stage musical.
It was blocked from the top spot by Kendrick Lamar‘s surprise album, GNX, which earned the singer his fifth consecutive #1 album.
The Wicked soundtrack also scored the top spot on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales, Soundtracks and Vinyl Albums charts.
Wicked released in theaters on Nov. 22 and became the highest-grossing movie based on a Broadway musical at the domestic box office over the Thanksgiving weekend. It stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. By Sunday, Dec. 1, the movie had earned a total of $263.1 million.
Another reunion for Romy and Michele is in the works, and actress Mira Sorvino says she and Lisa Kudrow are “pretty excited” about it.
Sorvino, who starred in the 1997 beloved film Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion with Kudrow, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a report that she and Kudrow are in “final talks” to star in the sequel. Good Morning America confirmed the news on Wednesday.
Alongside a screenshot of the report from The Hollywood Reporter, Sorvino wrote, “We’re pretty excited about it,” adding in the comments, “Michele, this is definitely the cutest we’ve ever looked!”
According to the report, Sorvino and Kudrow, who will reprise their roles as Romy White and Michele Weinberger, respectively, are also in final talks to serve as executive producers.
Tim Federle, who is known for directing High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, is slated to direct the highly anticipated film, with Emily in Paris showrunner Robin Schiff set to write the script.
Schiff originally penned the screenplay for the 1997 film.
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion followed two best friends, Romy and Michele, who decide to create fake careers to impress former classmates at their 10-year high school reunion. Over the years, the film has become a cult classic.
Alan Cumming, Janeane Garofalo, Elaine Hendrix, Julia Campbell and Justin Theroux also starred in the film.
Earlier this month, Kudrow talked about the film on The Drew Barrymore Show, and said that she and Sorvino were “as close as we have ever been” in terms of a sequel.
“There’s a script that’s really good,” Kudrow said. “Robin Schiff wrote it.”
The trailer for Hurry Up Tomorrow, based on an original idea by and starring The Weeknd, has arrived.
The film, co-starring Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega and Saltburn‘s Barry Keoghan, is about a musician who has insomnia. According to a press release, he’s “pulled into an odyssey with a stranger who begins to unravel the very core of his existence.”
In the film, we see The Weeknd, credited under his birth name, Abel Tesfaye, performing onstage, slowly sinking under the water in a bathtub and tied to a bed by Ortega’s character. She tells him, “I know this is all really intense but I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m really sorry about this. I really am.”
“What the f*** is going on?” he responds. We then see Ortega acting suspiciously while she loads something into a car and drives away.
Meanwhile, Keoghan seems to be some kind of manager or assistant to the singer, embracing him and telling him, “Stop self-doubting! You’re f****** invincible!”
Throughout the trailer, we hear distorted voices, both male and female. “Death is nothing at all. It does not kill,” says one. “Everything remains exactly how it was. Whatever we were to each other, we are still.”
Twice we hear a distorted voice say, “Call me by the old, familiar name,” followed by the sound of a woman screaming, “Abel!” That’s intriguing, considering the fact that The Weeknd has recently spoken of his desire to stop using that stage name and be known once more as Abel.
Hurry Up Tomorrow is in theaters May 16. The Weeknd’s album of the same name was released on Jan. 31.
Sarah Michelle Gellar has confirmed she is returning to her iconic character Buffy Summers in a reboot of the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
In a post shared to Instagram on Thursday, Gellar wrote that fans may have heard the news, but that she realized she had yet to confirm it.
“Three years ago, I got a call from my dear friend and mentor, Gail Berman. She told me that she wanted me to sit down with Chloé Zhao to hear her take on a potential ‘Buffy’ revival,” Gellar wrote. “I was blown away that Chloé even knew who I was, but, as I’ve always done, I told Gail that I just didn’t see a way for the show to exist again.”
Gellar wrote that Berman would usually be aligned with her in thinking that way, but that this time she heard “something different in her voice.” The actress then agreed to meet with Zhao, and their 20-minute coffee outing quickly turned into a four-hour meeting.
“We laughed, we cried, but mostly we both talked about how much this show means to us,” Gellar said. “While I didn’t agree to anything at that meeting, I did shock myself by agreeing to continue the conversation.”
Those conversations extended over the next three years, as they continued to add new collaborators, including Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, to the project. Eventually they landed on an idea for the reboot.
“I have always listened to the fans and heard your desire to revisit ‘Buffy’ and her world, but it was not something I could do unless I was sure we would get it right,” Gellar wrote. “This has been a long process, and it’s not over yet. I promise you, we will only make this show if we know we can do it right. And I will tell you that we are on the path there.”
Gellar ended her post by saying the new show is entirely because of and for the fans.
“I feel so lucky to be on this journey with these four unbelievably talented women, all of whom love ‘Buffy’ as much as I do. And as much as you do,” Gellar wrote. “Thank you to all the fans who never stopped asking for this. This will be for you.”
