James Corden may have appeared in some film adaptations of hit Broadway musicals like Cats and Into The Woods, but it seems people don’t want to see any more of that.
A petition on Change.org has been made in an effort to keep the late-night host out of the cast of the eagerly awaited film adaptation of Wicked. This comes on the heels of recent casting news that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have been set to star as Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) respectively.
The petition simply reads: “James Corden in no way shape or form should be in or near the production of Wicked the movie. that’s pretty much it.” As of this afternoon (November 8), it had more than 38,000 signatures.
Per CNN, Corden actually has close ties to the Broadway community, winning a Tony Award in 2012 for his performance in The History Boys.
Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, telling the story of everything leading up to Dorothy’s arrival in Oz. In its original Broadway run, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth portrayed frenemies Elphaba, who would become the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda the Good Witch.
