'Wicked' & 'Deadpool' Are Encouraging Theater Audiences To Be Maniacs

With Wicked dominating the holiday box office, it’s impossible to miss the reports coming out of theatergoers singing along, which don’t get me wrong, is freaking obnoxious. Especially at a family movie where bringing even just one kid is already an arm and a leg. You didn’t drop a small fortune to hear amateur caterwauling while being trapped in an auditorium for close to three hours.

It was bad enough when The Rock entered the fray and basically declared that a singing audience member’s ticket purchase trumps everyone’s else, but now, the actual cast of Wicked is telling people to sing away. Cynthia Erivo made an appearance at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade where she was asked by Hoda Kotb about the brewing controversy. Infuriatingly, Erivo took a page from The Rock.

“Good. I’m OK with it,” she said via Variety. “We spent this long singing it ourselves — it’s time for everyone else to join in. It’s wonderful.”

Ariana Grande has yet to weigh in, but I imagine her response involves licking donuts and punching Elvira in the face.

To their credit, theater chains have been trying to corral Wicked audiences by instructing them not to disrupt the film and arranging special sing-along screenings. But those chains are powerless when you have Hollywood stars leaning into the shittiest of maxims: “The customer is always right.”

If you’re looking for a light at the end of this tunnel, I don’t have one! Earlier this week, Variety ran a separate report that points to Deadpool & Wolverine as the culprit for throwing theater rules out the window. Phone use has become increasingly brazen, and once again, you have major stars encouraging the behavior:

“Something really happened with that movie,” said the source, specifically pointing to Reynolds and “Deadpool & Wolverine” director Shawn Levy. Both men shared and interacted with social media content pirated from theaters over opening weekend — many of which featured ecstatic crowds reacting to cameos from Channing Tatum, Wesley Snipes and Jennifer Garner.

So, just to recap: You want to sing in the middle of a movie? Screw everyone else, you paid your money. Want to whip your phone out and blind everyone in their eyesight? Ryan Reynolds will give you a retweet. Trump winning is becoming less and less surprising by the day.