The inner theater kid in me is screaming out of joy at the thought of 2024 being bookended by two Broadway adaptions: Mean Girls, which hit theatres in January, and Wicked: Part 1, which will land in cinemas in November. 

Last year, we had a few musical hits, from the delightful Wonka to the sensational Theater Camp. However, this year is different because the 2024 films mentioned earlier are based on Broadway adaptions rather than original works. 

Musical theater adaptions are no stranger to the world of film, but in recent years, there’s been a fall-off in their popularity, causing studios to pivot away from them entirely or market them as non-musicals. Take Mean Girls, for example. Has there ever been a musical (other than Hamilton) that has been more popular on TikTok or based on a chick flick as popular as the original Mean Girls? Despite that,  the original songs and dance numbers were nowhere to be seen in the original trailer.

This was a decision explicitly made by Paramount to appeal to cinema-goers who are not musical fans. The marketing campaign made news of its own which, in turn, generated a wider discussion about the modern cultural status of musicals. 

Mean Girls ended up as a critical and commercial hit, grossing $104 million at the box office and hitting a Rotten Tomatoes score of 69%. Though its response on social media among teenagers was a bit more polarizing as teens and millennials alike thought the film lost its edge, the film still presents a positive step forward into musicals coming back into the mainstream. 

Think about it. Have you been seeing way more E.L.F. beauty products all over your “for you” page recently? Or found that a Renee Rapp track is stuck in your head? At the end of the day, Paramount played their cards right with Mean Girls — Gen Z backlash be damned — and musicals are all the better for it. 

Looking forward, numerous releases jump out as being particularly more musical than their peers. Joker 2: Folie A Deux, starring Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/the Joker and Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, is a musical. While specific plot details are unknown, Variety recently reported that there will be 15 cover songs in the film, and other original songs may potentially be added as well. 

The first Joker film was tonally dark and doesn’t seem like the type of film to evolve into a musical. Joker was also made during the peak of traditional superhero fare. Now, as the cultural tide has moved away from tentpole heroes and villains, what better way to take a stab at something different than a musical with Lady Gaga?

Even though there’s no trailer and vague details, anticipation is high and audiences are anxious to see how the film shapes up. If superhero fans and musical fans can be united, it’s a promising sign that musicals still have the juice to turn heads and dazzle on the big screen. 

Who could forget about Wicked: Part 1? Starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, the film has been in the works for nearly 10 years. Complete with off-set drama and a Part Two release next year, Wicked is shaping up to be a cultural event rather than just another musical. The stage adaptation is one of Broadway’s most successful long-running shows, and the film could likely follow a similar trajectory. 

You can’t base the success of a genre resurgence on one film, but it’s plain to see that musicals are coming back. While it’s hard to predict how long they will stay in the mainstream, with massive stars like Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande ushering in the new musical era, it’s safe to say Hollywood will soon follow suit. 

Article Courtesy of Gabriella Madden

Feature Image Credit to Universal via Collider