James Cameron Reveals He Nearly Directed Wicked Before Choosing Avatar

The Oscar-winning filmmaker says he once met with Universal to adapt Wicked, but stepped away because he “couldn’t find the song” — a surprising revelation as the franchise now dominates global box office.

James Cameron may be known today for his “blue period” thanks to the massive Avatar franchise, but the director recently admitted he once came very close to embracing a very different shade: the green world of Wicked. Speaking on The Town with Matt Belloni podcast, the three-time Oscar winner revealed that around 15 years ago — shortly after the release of Avatar in 2009 — he met with Universal Pictures to discuss directing the film adaptation of Wicked.

Cameron explained that he has always been drawn to large-scale, event-driven cinema, naming films like Dune and Wicked as examples of what excites him as a moviegoer. He shared that The Wizard of Oz is one of his all-time favorite films, making Wicked an appealing project at the time. However, despite his fascination with the story, Cameron ultimately walked away from the musical because he “couldn’t find the song” — suggesting he struggled to connect with translating the Broadway phenomenon into a cinematic musical. Still, he didn’t rule out the possibility of directing a musical someday.

Cameron wasn’t the first Hollywood figure to flirt with a Wicked adaptation. Before the musical became a global sensation, several major actresses — including Whoopi Goldberg, Demi Moore, Claire Danes, Salma Hayek, Laurie Metcalf, Michelle Pfeiffer, Emma Thompson and Nicole Kidman — explored bringing the pre-Broadway story to the screen.

The story eventually found its definitive form with the 2003 Broadway adaptation by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, starring Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda. Decades later, the cinematic adaptations have reached new heights. Jon M. Chu’s Wicked: For Good, the second installment in the film series based on Gregory Maguire’s novel and the Broadway musical, reunites audiences with Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) years after their days at Shiz University and their dramatic entanglements with the Wizard of Oz.

The latest film has smashed box-office records, opening to $150 million domestically and $226 million worldwide — career-best numbers for stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, as well as director Jon M. Chu. The enormous success of the franchise only adds intrigue to Cameron’s revelation, leaving fans to wonder what a James Cameron-helmed Wicked might have looked like.