Orlando bracing for Epic Universe economic boom
The baggage area of the Orlando International Airport was relatively quiet Tuesday, but still filled with the familiar sights of mouse ears and polka dots.
Off to the side, Kristy Monroe and Julie Muniz sat in matching 'Jaws' t-shirts, practically bouncing out of their seats.
'I'm so excited,' Monroe said. 'I got up at four this morning.'
Monroe and Muniz are part of Orlando's newest class of tourists: Epic Universe visitors.
The giant new park, the first in 25 years for Central Florida, will be a $2 billion shot in the arm for the already-thriving tourism industry.
Epic alone is expected to generate 14,000 theme park jobs and $300 million in revenue in its first year. There will also be ripple effects from the support services like truck drivers that Universal's estimates don't include.
While some observers fantasize about a theme park titan clash, UCF economist Sean Snaith says it's a 'rising tide lifts all boats' situation, echoing history when Disney famously welcomed Universal Studios to Orlando.
'I think the pie is getting larger, as opposed to Universal's slice getting larger,' Snaith said. 'I think these places offer different experiences, right?'
Business leaders said they're expecting a record summer, with full hotel rooms, while Snaith predicted another round of development in the tourism district in the years ahead.
'There was that land wasn't really generating much property revenue, and we still don't know how that developments can unfold over the years and decades ahead on Kirkman,' he said. 'It will be a catalyst for growth in that area.'
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Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Jaws Anniversary Coincides With Real-Life Shark Sighting In Rhode Island
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Wicked: For Good : Trailer, Release Date, Cast, Soundtrack, and Everything You Need to Know
Courtesy of Universal If you have the first Wicked movie on repeat now that it is on streaming, that means you surely think about Wicked: For Good at least once a day. But let's recap a little. Wicked first debuted on Broadway in 2003, where Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel originated the roles of Glinda and Elphaba. The interconnected story of the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West takes place long before Dorothy drops into the wonderful land of Oz. In fact, the prequel details the unlikely friendship between the two then-aspiring witches in their youth before they became enemies, changing the fate of their lives — and Oz — for good. The Tony-winning Broadway musical — a Wizard of Oz prequel based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West — is establishing itself as a mainstay of the holiday seasons, being adapted for not one but two major motion pictures under Universal, and more and more confirmed details about the second film are slowly trickling in. The Wicked movies are led by mega pop star Ariana Grande and Tony-winner Cynthia Erivo as witches Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, and directed by Jon M. Chu of Crazy Rich Asians and In The Heights fame. As people from all around the world get ready to see Wicked Part One at home, our gaze is already on Wicked Part Two — a.k.a Wicked: For Good. Below, we've gathered everything you need to know about the project. Jump to your preferred section: Announcement Plot Title explained Release date Trailer and photos Filming details Behind-the-scenes Cast Movie differences New music Previously only referred to as Wicked Part Two, Universal and director Jon M. Chu officially revealed the sequel had been renamed on December 16, 2024, and the new title will give fans of the musical goosebumps. Hold your blue-haired horses because Wicked Part Two is now officially Wicked: For Good. In case you are new here, the new title is a reference to the beloved farewell duet performed by Elphaba and Glinda towards the end of the musical. Fans have been anticipating Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande's take on the song, written and composed by Stephen Schwartz, since casting was announced, and if this is any indication, it will be worth the wait. ↑BACK TO TOP Like Gregory Maguire's book, the Wicked movies follow Glinda and Elphaba as students at Shiz University, where they, despite their differences, navigate friendship, magical training, and even romance, all while discovering their own identities. The Wicked movies follow the storyline of the beloved Broadway musical adapted from the book, so you can think of Wicked Part One as the first act of the musical, which ends with 'Defying Gravity,' and the upcoming Wicked Part Two as the second act. The year-long wait between the movies is, of course, the intermission, so you have plenty of time to get the popcorn ready. Wicked Part One ends after Elphaba and Glinda meet the Wizard, with the former fleeing the Emerald City on a broom. Assuming it will be faithful to the musical, Part Two will begin sometime later, with Elphaba now being known as The Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda as Glinda the Good, working for the Wizard. Fiyero is still looking for Elphaba, and there's a long way ahead (and a few transformations) until we can reach the curtain call. Yes! After much anticipation, Universal put out the first official trailer for on June 4, 2025, and it's a weepy one. In the trailer, which you can watch below, we get a peek at Glinda and Elphaba's reunion, getting glimpses of the pair's new lives outside of Shiz. We also see Madame Morrible plotting for Elphaba's demise while tapping Fiyero in the Wizard's squadron — all set to Cynthia Erivo's version of 'No Good Deed" before transitioning into the long-awaited 'For Good' with the two leads' vocals. We also get an appetizer of Fiyero and Elphaba's reunion before the latter ends the trailer on a familiar note: 'I'm off to see the Wizard.' Previously, only a select few were lucky enough to see the trailer at events. Universal had announced that the Wicked: For Good trailer would premiere in theaters on June 4, 2025, to coincide with the first film's one-night return to the big screen in the United States and Canada. We also have a first look at the movie with the official posters. The first poster, which you can see below, shows Elphaba and Glinda in brand-new attire as the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch facing each other from opposing cliffs with the yellow brick road leading up to the Emerald City in the ravine between them. The poster's logline is 'You will be changed,' as a nod to the lyrics in 'For Good.' A second poster was unveiled to coincide with the release of the trailer, and it features Glinda inside her bubble and Elphaba flying high with her broom on opposite sides of the frame, holding up their arms to each other à la Michelangelo's Creation of Adam. Before the trailer was released, Vanity Fair also got a bunch of exclusive first-look pictures from the upcoming movie, which you can see here. To get a better understanding of when Wicked Part Two will come out, we need to look at the release calendar of Wicked Part One. Between calendar shifts and COVID-19-related production delays, the release of the first Wicked movie was moved around quite a bit. A few months before its 2019 premiere, Universal announced that the movie had been pushed to December 22, 2021, though the pandemic set that date back, too. The next date was intended to be December 25, 2024, for Wicked: Part 1 and December 25, 2025, for Part 2. However, both dates were moved up during the spring and summer of 2023. On June 20, 2023, Deadline reported that the first film was slated for a November 27, 2024, theatrical release just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The pub also noted the second installment would be released almost exactly one year later, on November 26, 2025. However, things changed again in 2024. On July 1, 2024, Jon M. Chu himself announced that the release date for the first Wicked movie had been moved up, setting the final official premiere for November 22, 2024. '5. DAYS. EARLIER!!!! Let's goooo!!" Chu announced on X. The date for the second movie, which was previously expected to be November 26, 2025, also changed. On September 12, 2024, official accounts announced that will premiere on November 21, 2025, ahead of Thanksgiving. Ahead of the release of Wicked: For Good, NBC and Peacock will air an all-new Wicked special led by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. 'Erivo and Grande will be joined by their co-stars and other surprise guests to perform many songs from the first movie — and maybe, just maybe, a little bit from the upcoming Wicked: For Good as well — for a special that will air exclusively on NBC this November and stream on Peacock the following day.' The initial news of Universal's Wicked movie adaptation broke in 2016, with its original theatrical release set for December 20, 2019. Evidently, there have since been delays. On April 26, 2022, Chu shared news that clarified the reason behind the long wait, announcing the story would be split into two movies. 'As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it,' he wrote in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter). 'As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one Wicked movie but two! With more space, we can tell the story of Wicked as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters.' Chu's two-part announcement delighted some fans while downright annoying others. On February 11, 2024, the day the first trailer dropped, Wicked producer Marc Platt defended the decision to split up the movies to Vanity Fair. 'We didn't want to end up making one four-hour movie and then cutting out songs. We want to satisfy the fans of the musical,' said Platt. 'Film allows you to create a place and a time — a university like Shiz, an extraordinary Emerald City governor's mansion. There's so much more to explore.' On December 7, 2022, Grande, Erivo, and Chu confirmed filming on the movie adaptations had begun via several Instagram Stories posts. In one post, the director shared a Wicked-themed drawing from his daughter 'to commemorate the first day of shooting.' Production temporarily shut down amid the SAG-AFTRA strike in the 2023 summer. At the time, Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz confirmed to Variety that there were only 10 days left to complete filming parts one and two. Chu also shared an update during the strike, assuring fans that the 'release date shouldn't be affected' on X: 'Not done yet. Just paused until the strike is over and we can finish the last pieces of the movie. We were only a few days away from being done so we were SO close. It's been very painful to put a halt to it all but we will be back! And we will finish properly strong when the time is right." And time was eventually right: Ariana Grande herself announced she had wrapped filming for both of the movies with a cryptic post on January 25, 2023. 'Like a handprint on my heart,' the star captioned a post on Instagram in reference to the song 'For Good.' The post showed the silhouette of Grande as Glinda on set. Resharing Grande's post to his stories, director Jon M. Chu wrote: 'Will never forget my year with our Galinda. Can't wait for you to meet her. Thank you Ariana Grande for pouring your heart into Oz.' In another story, Chu tagged Cynthia Erivo, adding: 'One more day left. Cynthia Erivo, are you ready?' Erivo replied: 'As ready as I'll ever be!! Let's goooooo!' As of January 26, 2024, filming on both movies had wrapped. There is, indeed. On July 24, 2024, Universal put out a two-minute behind-the-scenes featurette showing viewers how the Wicked world was built brick by brick for the movie. 'We knew that we wanted Wicked to be immersive,' director Jon M. Chu says in the video. 'What does it feel like to be in Oz? To feel it in your fingertips? If you want to be inside that world, you've got to build it.' The next few clips give us an aerial view of the set, including Emerald City and Munchkinland, being built by hand as a 1:1 recreation, including the infamous yellow bricks being painted one by one. 'A lot of it is real. physical, tangible sets,' Ariana Grande adds before Chu shows the field of tulips that were planted and the train that was built for the movie. On September 25, 2024, another featurette called Celebrating Wicked was released. The video shows some behind-the-scenes footage from the movie's filming, as well as interviews with the cast and director. Universal had also put out another Wicked featurette called Wicked - Passion Project with interviews from the cast and crew about joining the project. The two-minute featurette features scenes from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo's auditions and more, with commentary from director Jon M. Chu, as well as clips from the set. You can watch it below: As previously mentioned, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo star as leads Glinda and Elphaba, the blonde-haired and green-skinned witches who anchor the movies' musical extravaganza. During an appearance on Amazon Music's Zach Sang Show on February 26, 2024, Grande said she has 'never wanted something as badly' as she wanted the role of Glinda, 'hunting' producer Marc Platt for the past ten years. 'Since I was 20, I was like, 'Hey, I don't know when this is happening, but when it's happening, may I please at least just audition?'" recalled Grande. "That's all I wanted, was an audition. I've never wanted anything more.' Grande revealed that 'prepping for the auditions [took] six months," involving rigorous 'voice lessons every day [and] acting lessons every day." 'I trained every single day to prove to [Wicked producers] that I could handle taking on this other person," Grande explained to Sang. "I had to completely erase popstar Ari, the person they know so well, because it's harder to believe someone as someone else because they're so branded as one thing. I had to really go all the way to strip that down.' 'I learned so much from Glinda,' Grande continued, calling the day she got the part 'the best day of my life.' 'I kind of healed a lot of parts of myself alongside and through her. And it actually helped me heal a lot of my own personal, weird stuff that I had with my relationship with music and to being an artist.' Grande and Erivo announced their casting news in respective Instagram posts on November 4, 2021. Wicked alum Chenoweth gave the two stars her seal of approval via another IG post, which included a screenshot of one of Grande's 2011 tweets where she called Glinda her '#dreamrole.' Chenoweth wrote: 'I'm not sure if I've ever been this proud. From the very first day I met you (swipe to see!!), you were destined for this role. Congratulations @arianagrande! The best Glinda you will be with @cynthiaerivo by your side 💗💚 I love you!! 🧚♀️👑🪄 @wickedmovie @wicked_musical #wicked.' Chenoweth's former costar, Menzel, echoed similar sentiments when she commented on Grande and Erivo's casting news on X as well. 'Congrats to two amazing women,' Menzel wrote. 'May it change your lives for the better forever and ever as it has for us. So much love.' Joining Erivo and Grande in the Wicked movies is Bridgerton breakout star Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, the witches' love interest. On August 12, 2024, Universal gave us our first proper first-look at movie Fiyero in action with a teaser focused on the character and, yes, he has a British accent and is as charming as the musical's. The teaser gives us a glimpse at Ariana Grande's Glinda finding out Fiyero is in town reading The Shiz Gazette. 'Fiyero Spotted at Shiz,' the headline reads. 'Meet Oz's most eligible bachelor,' the screen then proclaims. 'I see that the responsibility to corrupt my fellow students falls to me,' cheeky Fiyero then proclaims before we get a teaser of his dynamic with both Glinda and Elphaba — IYKYK. The cast also includes Everything Everywhere All At Once star Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University; Broadway veteran Ethan Slater (also Grande's rumored boyfriend) as Boq, the romantic interest of Elphaba's younger sister, Nessarose; and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard. Newcomer Marissa Bode makes feature debut as Nessarose. Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang and Lockwood & Co. actor Bronwyn James also joined the roster as Pfannee and ShenShen, respectively, Elphaba and Glinda's classmates. Additional Wicked casting includes The Greatest Showman star Keala Settle as Miss Coddle, Hot Fuzz actor Colin Michael Carmichael as Professor Nikidik, and Aaron Teoh as Avaric. As mentioned, the Wicked movies will similarly follow the Broadway musical's plot, though star Cynthia Erivo previously teased that some parts will take a slight departure from the original material. 'I think it's going to be unlike anything you've ever seen before,' she told Entertainment Tonight in 2022. 'I think we're going to enjoy the magic of it. We're going to try and put our own spin on what we know already and show you a story about two women [who] are sisters." According to composer Schwartz, the upcoming Wicked movies will, indeed, include new musical material. Back in 2016, while speaking at a Behind the Music panel during Comic-Con, he predicted that there would 'probably four new songs in the movie." At the time, Playbill reported that three of the songs would be newly written, while one was cut from the original Broadway production. Be that as it may, on December 6, 2023, Schwartz shared an updated count of the new music with The Messenger: two brand-new songs, written exclusively for the film adaptations, will be featured in Wicked Part Two. 'There are some expansions of stuff in the first movie. The point being, the new songs were written because of the demand of the story, not, 'Oh, let's write a new song and stick it in just because,'' said Schwartz. "The storytelling required it, and therefore they were created — the intention was that they were organic and not imposed on the movie." 'It's been very important to us to make sure that it is the show, that it is the story that the fans love and that they're coming to expect and not disappoint them,' he continued. 'And at the same time, [it was also important to] be able to expand the story to make use of what the language of film and the technology of film allows you to do. As we talked about the story we wanted to tell, it was impossible really to get into one movie unless the movie were four hours long. And so the decision was made to make two movies. And consequently, there's new stuff that I think the fans will enjoy.' On March 21, 2024, director Jon M. Chu revealed to Vanity Fair that with both the new and old music, the vocals were recorded live — a stunning feat considering a few of the musical numbers require stunts with harnesses and jumps. According to Erivo, Grande even sang live while 'jumping on a chandelier over my head.' 'These are live vocals,' Chu confirmed to VF. 'When we were shooting it, those girls were like, 'F*ck the pre-records. We're going live.'' Universal released a teaser centering on the music of Wicked on October 9, 2024. The snippet previewed 'Popular,' 'Dancing Through Life,' 'The Wizard and I,' 'What Is This Feeling?', and 'Defying Gravity.' Variety confirmed the official soundtrack for the first Wicked movie with 11 songs total, which you can see below: 'No One Mourns the Wicked' 'Dear Old Shiz' 'The Wizard and I' 'What Is This Feeling?' 'Something Bad' 'Dancing Through Life' 'Popular' 'I'm Not That Girl' 'One Short Day' 'A Sentimental Man' 'Defying Gravity' Wicked Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue Want more great Culture stories from Teen Vogue? Check these out: Underneath Chappell Roan's Hannah Montana Wig? A Pop Star for the Ages Is Your New Favorite Song Real or AI? Bridgerton Showrunner Clarifies Benedict's Sexuality & Talks Francesca's Queer Plot Twist The Borders of Country Music Are Finally Crumbling
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Asthmatic sharks and 18-foot bears: the movies that were inspired by ‘Jaws'
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Richard Dreyfuss (left) and Robert Shaw watch the shark emerge from the water in "Jaws." Getty Images/Getty Advertisement As part of our tribute to the 50th anniversary of 'Jaws,' here's a notebook on some of the movies its success hath wrought. (I'm saving the sequels to 'Jaws' for another notebook.) So that it doesn't feel like I'm picking on the much-maligned shark, baby or otherwise, I am splitting this into the two most popular pitches filmmakers threw out in the hopes of getting an 'homage' made. Let's start with: 'It's 'Jaws', but with a __________!' Spielberg's ordeal with Bruce, the faulty mechanical shark, initially put producers off financing shark movies. Instead, filmmakers had to search elsewhere in the animal kingdom for their man-eating predators. Boy, did they find plenty of suitable stand-ins! Advertisement In 1976, Louisville-based filmmaker William Girdler had the biggest success of his career with 'Grizzly,' the first official nod to 'Jaws.' Girdler was no stranger to being accused of ripping off popular movies — Warner Bros. sued over his 1974 film, 'Abby,' a.k.a. 'The Black version of 'The Exorcist.'' Because of its low budget, that movie made a lot of money before Warner Bros. had it pulled from theaters. Universal had no such power, as the makers of 'Grizzly' could plead plausible deniability: Its killer was an 18-foot grizzly bear. However, the similarities were so recognizable that the pundits referred to the movie as 'Paws.' Girdler's bear changed sizes multiple times throughout the movie, but is never seen at the advertised height. It was also played by an actual Kodiak bear named Teddy, who was 7 feet shorter than advertised. Like 'Jaws,' the bear's victims included scantily clad women and a kid. Also like 'Jaws,' there's a shot of a disembodied leg, watery jump scares, and the bad guy meets an explosive demise. Both films are surprisingly graphic for their PG rating (though 'Grizzly' is gorier). The most important thing to note, however, is that, like 'Jaws,' 'Grizzly' was a huge hit. I saw it in theaters, so I did my part for the box office grosses. Irish actor Richard Harris in a June 1982 file photo. PA I also saw 1977's 'Orca' in theaters. Its inclusion here is a bit of dirty pool on my part, because the Dino De Laurentiis production isn't exactly ''Jaws' with a killer whale.' It's more like 'Death Wish' with a killer whale. After killing a great white shark, a male orca sees his wife and baby brutally killed by heartless Richard Harris's boat crew. Advertisement The whale seeks a deserved revenge on Harris and the fishing village he inhabits, killing most of the crew and busting up fuel pipes. Targets includes Bo Derek who, like the guy in 'Jaws' and the kid in 'Grizzly,' winds up losing a leg. Eventually, the orca finds Harris and gets justice for everyone who hated Harris's Shelley Winters in the 1970 film "Bloody Mama," directed by Roger Corman. American International Pictures The same year, American International Pictures gave us 'Tentacles,' where beachgoers are attacked by — you guessed it! — a gigantic octopus. This sucker kills people real good, too. An all-star cast includes John Huston as a hero and Henry Fonda as the bad guy. Shelley Winters costars as Huston's sister. Bo Hopkins plays the Quint stand-in, an expert who sends his killer whales to turn that octopus into pulpo. Paul Bartel in the 1978 movie "Piranha," directed by Joe Dante. New World Pictures It's no surprise that two of the most entertaining 'Jaws' homages were written by legendary filmmaker John Sayles. In 1978, Sayles worked on 'Piranha' for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. B-movie mainstays Barbara Steele, Kevin McCarthy, and Dick Miller costar with a school of ravenous, genetically engineered piranha. Director Joe Dante doesn't scrimp on the gory mayhem; the piranha chew up an entire lake's worth of spring breakers and summer camp kids. Alas, the fishes couldn't devour the other Jaws rip-off that opened the same summer, 'Jaws 2.' Sayles also wrote 1980's Robert Forster vehicle, 'Alligator.' The script brings to life the urban legend about baby alligators flushed down the commode. This one grows to gargantuan size due to discarded growth hormones in the sewer. After chowing down on sewer workers and an obnoxious tabloid reporter (his demise is truly terrifying), the gator takes to the streets. Victims include cops and an unlucky kid tossed into a swimming pool (children do not fare well in these movies). Advertisement A maid at a swanky wedding gets bitten in the worst possible place by the gator before it suffers the same fate as the shark in 'Jaws.' Speaking of sharks, that leads us to the second movie pitch heard at studios everywhere: 'Jaws was a hit! Let's make another movie with a shark!' Ignoring the 'Jaws' sequels leads me first to 1977's 'Tintorera,' a Mexican film starring Susan George ('Straw Dogs') as a Brit touring in Mexico. You probably want to hear about the asthmatic tiger shark (it sounds like an obscene phone call) chewing up skinny-dippers, but trust me: The homoerotic throuple George forms with an American businessman and a Mexican swimming instructor is the real draw. This trashy movie is loaded with sex and full frontal nudity. No wonder the shark is panting! Four years later, an Italian film called 'Great White' opened to good business in American theaters. I remember seeing the poster and thinking 'wow, that looks a lot like 'Jaws'!' You know who else had that exact thought? Universal Pictures. They Samuel L. Jackson in 2019. Jordan Strauss/Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Fast-forward 18 years to the best film about a shark since 'Jaws,' Renny Harlin's 'Deep Blue Sea.' Mutant CGI sharks attack an underwater facility, but don't worry! Samuel L. Jackson is the star of this movie. He even gets a rousing speech about how he's going to kick some shark fin. That speech ends with one of the most shocking (and hilarious) jump scares ever shown to a stunned audience. Advertisement Another 21st-century badass, Jason Statham, takes on Bruce the Shark's ancestor, the megalodon, in 2018's 'The Meg.' Yet another research facility is in danger, this time from a 75-foot-long CGI effect. You get two Spielberg rip-offs in one film: 'Jaws' and 'Jurassic Park'! And just like those two movies, 'The Meg' spawned its own rip-off of a sequel. Last, but not least is 'Open Water,' an anticlimactic bore that made me think of Quint's magnificent speech about the USS Indianapolis shark attack. An unlikable married pair of scuba divers are left stranded in shark-infested waters. All the movie does is wait for them to get eaten. It's a long wait. Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
