Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Cynthia Erivo Getting Big Award in December as the Intense Oscar Push for “Wicked 2: For Good” Begins Today

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Awards season has begun.

“Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo is getting the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film.

Erivo is starring in “Wicked 2: For Good,” coming in December.

Erivo deserves all awards, but the intense push is on for “Wicked 2: For Good” to win a lot of Oscars. Studios arrange with film festivals for the actors from the Oscar-buzzed movies to get these honorariums. The publicity within the Academy, they hope, will turn into gold statues.

Festivals like Santa Barbara and Palm Springs are close by Los Angeles, and that’s where all the action is. Some of these awards are genuine appreciation of an actor’s talent — as in this case. But some — beware — they’re bought and paid for.

Will Erivo win Best Actress in 2026 for playing Elphaba twice? The odds are good, and she’s worked hard for it. Will “Wicked” pull off Best Picture? That remains to be seen.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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