wicked proved something that i and most people who like specific niches already understood but hollywood seems to not get: in order to direct a project that originates in media with a very specific language, you need a team who understands both the language of the original text and the language of the media it’s being translated to. you may be an incredible film director but if your style is gritty realism there is no reason why you should be directing a film based on musical theatre, one of the forms of media that requires the most suspension of disbelief from its public - and one that gets it very easily because such is simply the nature of it, unlike film. if you are directing a period piece, you need to understand what about the source material was so interesting and fresh that people are still talking about it decades later and translate that interest to screen - otherwise it’s just people in old timey clothes, not an adaptation. successful properties with established fandoms like that thrive because of the medium they use, not in spite of it - you need to respect and like that about them, otherwise your take on it is always gonna be lacking
