‘Wicked’ proves popular in Oscar predictions, leads early odds to win Best Costume Design
Gold Derby’s Oscar predictions in the below-the-line races opened last week, and “Wicked” leads the early odds to win Best Costume Design. That should come as no surprise to anyone who’s seen the popular Broadway musical, which won various costume awards races two decades ago (including at the 2004 Tonys) for its eye-popping looks for good witches, bad witches, deceitful wizards and everyone in between.
The Universal Pictures film adaptation, which will begin defying gravity in theaters on November 22, 2024, stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp, aka the Wicked Witch of the West, Ariana Grande as Galinda Upland, aka Glinda the Good Witch, Michelle Yeoh as headmistress Madame Morrible, Jeff Goldblum as the iconic Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Jonathan Bailey as young prince Fiyero Tigelaar. Jon M. Chu directs the movie from a script co-written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox.
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“Wicked’s” costume designer is Paul Tazewell, a previous Oscar nominee for Best Costume Design for “West Side Story” (2021), which lost to “Cruella.” (Watch Gold Derby’s 2022 interview with Tazewell from that season’s awards cycle.) He also worked on the “Harriet” (2019) feature film, in which he had the responsibility of dressing Erivo as American abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
On the TV side, Tazewell won an Emmy Award for creating the clothing for NBC’s “The Wiz Live!” in 2015, so he already knows a thing or two about the iconic yellow brick road. Plus, he has a Tony Award on his mantel for “Hamilton” (2016) in the race for Best Costume Design in a Musical.
SEE‘Wicked’ looking good to pull off Oscar hat trick in design categories
“I’ve long been a fan of the ‘Wicked’ musical, and ‘The Wizard of Oz,'” Tazewell announced on his design website. “I held both as a driving inspiration when designing costumes for the film to create an original reinterpretation of the Land of Oz, and a brand new vision of Glinda, Elphaba. I’m confident that both avid fans of the musical and newcomers alike will love what we’ve done.”
“Wicked” currently comes in first place to win the Best Costume Design Oscar at 4/1 odds. Its predicted co-nominees at this early stage are “Dune: Part Two” (9/2 odds), “Gladiator II” (5/1 odds), “Maria” (11/2 odds) and “Blitz” (19/2 odds). Rounding out the likely Top 10 are “Nosferatu,” “The Brutalist,” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” “Conclave” and “Emilia Perez.”
This first part of the movie musical is also expected to be competitive in Oscar races like Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. See more odds and rankings.
Note that Tazewell is also the costume designer for “Wicked: Part Two,” which is expected to hit theaters on November 21, 2025. Have YOU made your Oscar predictions yet? Be sure to update your picks now that Gold Derby has added nine below-the-line categories to our predictions center.
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