Woke filmmaker Adam McKay has speculated that President-Elect Donald Trump will ban the widely popular Wicked film when he is in office.
The Big Short director wrote on X Monday that the film starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo was released at a time when the United States ‘has never been more right wing and propagandized.’
‘On a pure storytelling level Wicked Part 1 is right up there as one of the most radical big studio Hollywood movies ever made,’ he wrote, before naming other films he placed into that category like Bridge on the River Kwai, The Sound of Music and The Hunger Games.
‘I know Part 2 swings back to the center a bit, but Part 1 is nakedly about radicalization in the face of careerism, fascism, propaganda,’ McKay said of the film about the Wicked Witch of the West.
‘What’s really striking about Wicked Part 1 is that it’s coming out NOW when America has never been more right wing and propagandized,’ he continued.
‘And yes, I know the theatrical production and the book are much older so part of the timing is a coincidence, but still…’
It has been a major box office success, easily surpassing its $145million budget.
The first installment of the two-part film has already made over $500million.
Yet McKay seemed to think its success will eventually draw the ire of Trump.
He shared that belief after another X user thanked him for the ‘alternative perspective.’
‘Really? Wow! I’m sorry I didn’t even think of seeing it when it was showing here in Dublin,’ the X user replied. ‘It just looked like more American fantasy, franchise-wringing and CGI fare to me.
‘I’ll have to see it when it gets to streaming. Thanks for the alternative perspective,’ he wrote.
McKay then replied that he thinks the X user will ‘be shocked.’
‘If America keeps going on the track it is, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the movie will be banned in three to five years,’ he wrote.
Then, when another X user asked McKay for clarification, he seemed to take aim at the future president.
‘You really think I’m 100 percent saying the movie will for sure be banned to the point where no one can ever see it?’ he asked, rhetorically.
‘The idea of shutting down nonprofits at the President’s discretion is in motion,’ he claimed. ‘Things [are] changing fast.’
Despite McKay’s fears, the second installment of the film is due to be released in theaters in November 2025, and the first part is likely to be available to stream on Peacock early into the new year.