{"id":1601612,"date":"2025-11-22T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1601612"},"modified":"2025-11-21T17:29:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T22:29:43","slug":"review-sphere-the-wizard-of-oz-wicked-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/11\/review-sphere-the-wizard-of-oz-wicked-worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Sphere&#8217;s &#8216;The Wizard of Oz&#8217; Walks an Uneasy Line Between Cinematic Enchantment and A.I. Slop"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1601627\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601627\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/?attachment_id=1601627\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1601627\" data-lasso-id=\"2871779\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-1601627\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A large crowd of brightly dressed performers stands in a colorful village scene while three small dancers perform in front of a girl holding a basket, evoking the Munchkinland sequence from The Wizard of Oz.\" width=\"970\" height=\"728\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg 4032w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg?resize=768,576 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg?resize=635,476 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg?resize=2048,1536 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg?resize=970,728 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg?resize=320,240 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg?resize=1920,1440 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2241.jpeg?resize=50,38 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601627\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A.I. restoration makes landscapes sharper, but it also pushes Dorothy, her friends and especially the extras toward an uncanny smoothness that feels oddly post-human. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo: Stephen Garrett for Observer<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Anyone unimpressed with Glinda\u2019s newly gifted vehicular spherical globe in <i>Wicked: For Good<\/i> might follow the Yellow Brick Road to Las Vegas and its own magic bubble. <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2023\/07\/james-dolan-las-vegas-sphere\/\" data-lasso-id=\"2871780\">James Dolan\u2019s Sphere<\/a>, known mainly for hosting live concerts, is currently the home of a wildly distended, dazzlingly supersized and grotesquely manipulated version of 1939\u2019s classic film <i>The Wizard of Oz<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>All the action unfolds on a 160,000-square-foot LED screen with 16K resolution, dominating its viewers with an image over 300 feet high. (IMAX, eat your heart out.) Capacity for the event is 10,000 for each screening, and audiences have been coming in droves since it opened on August 28. The initial run-through, scheduled to end on March 31, has now been extended through May.<\/p>\n<p>Not quite the cinematic reinterpretation that the pair of <i>Wicked<\/i> films offer, this newly bedazzled curio\u2014known formally as <i>The Wizard of Oz at Sphere<\/i> and presented in 4D\u2014is, in its own way, just as subversive, if not downright corny. Brace for a teeth-rattling tornado sequence with actual wind machines blowing debris all around while your haptic seat shakes and quivers! Dodge the Styrofoam apples that fall from the ceiling when the sentient trees throw their fruit at Dorothy! Feel the Great and Powerful Oz thunder his declarations while white flashes and bursts of flames pop around the venue\u2019s perimeter! And are those mannequin-sized drones buzzing overhead doubling as flying monkeys?<\/p>\n<p>The butchery is undeniable: This Sphere-ified <i>Oz<\/i> is 75 minutes long, nearly 30 minutes shorter than the beloved classic. Hope you\u2019re not a big fan of the Cowardly Lion, because his song about being the King of the Forest is totally gone. Other nips and tucks include less time with the villainous Almira Gulch, a truncated visit to Professor Marvel, shortened conversations with Glinda the Good, a condensed version of \u201cDing-Dong the Witch is Dead,\u201d plus abbreviated introductions to the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1601628\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601628\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/?attachment_id=1601628\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1601628\" data-lasso-id=\"2871781\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601628\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A dark, stormy sky hangs over a massive fortress-like castle as a line of uniformed guards marches across a bridge toward its gate, evoking the Wicked Witch\u2019s castle from The Wizard of Oz.\" width=\"970\" height=\"1293\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg 3024w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=225,300 225w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=768,1024 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=450,600 450w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=1152,1536 1152w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=1536,2048 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=970,1293 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=320,427 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=1920,2560 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=38,50 38w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601628\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A dark, stormy sky hangs over a massive fortress-like castle as a line of uniformed guards marches across a bridge toward its gate, evoking the Wicked Witch\u2019s castle from The Wizard of Oz.\" width=\"970\" height=\"1293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg 3024w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=225,300 225w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=768,1024 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=450,600 450w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=1152,1536 1152w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=1536,2048 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=970,1293 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=320,427 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=1920,2560 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2256-rotated.jpeg?resize=38,50 38w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601628\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sphere\u2019s version heightens every iconic sequence, amplifying the story\u2019s visual drama far beyond the original. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo: Stephen Garrett for Observer<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But there\u2019s more than enough spectacle to impress. The film is literally expanded in all directions, giving a truly immersive dimension to Hollywood\u2019s adaptation of Frank L. Baum\u2019s fairy tale. You think the Tin Man gets buffed and shined in the Emerald City? This <i>Oz<\/i> is digitally zhuzhed and A.I.-enhanced beyond belief, with beautifully crisp landscapes and buildings that feel uncannily real.<\/p>\n<p>Sepia-toned Kansas is even more starkly handsome, with razor-sharp bales of hay, lifelike barnyard chickens and cows and an expansive copper sky overhead. When Dorothy sings about happy little bluebirds in \u201cOver the Rainbow,\u201d one of those chirping warblers is now soaring above to match her upward gaze.<\/p>\n<p>And when that twister uses its gale-force winds to lift up Dorothy\u2019s house, we\u2019re no longer on the inside looking out; now we\u2019re in the eye of the storm, watching not only the house fly by but also swirling bovines, airborne men in a rowboat and\u2014in an extended version of the iconic sequence\u2014a bicycling Ms. Gulch transformed into the broomstick-riding Wicked Witch of the West. (Look straight up at Sphere\u2019s domed ceiling, by the way, and you can see right out of the tornado\u2019s cylindrical form and notice a perfectly calm circle of sky.)<\/p>\n<p>One set piece after another amazes. The Yellow Brick Road looks newly-paved in its bright canary hue; the merry old Land of Oz has vast rolling hills and picture-perfect mountains; candy-colored Munchkinland is an absolutely vibrant village; the Haunted Forest has a vividly menacing darkness; And the Emerald City, with extended towers and ornately expanded walls, shimmers in all its Art Deco glory. The Wizard\u2019s vast, dark green Chamber now has a skylight; the Wicked Witch\u2019s castle looms with extra wickedness. And the ruby slippers shine with vibrant intensity. The glammed-up production design is absolutely astounding.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s only one problem, and it\u2019s a big one: the cast. No amount of digital wizardry (yet) can convincingly re-render actual 1939-era actors into a 2025 production. You can only upconvert the visual resolution of the film\u2019s characters so much\u2014completely wiping away the film grain eliminates skin pores, leaving faces eerily smooth and plastic.<\/p>\n<p>Dorothy and her trio look like they\u2019ve been peeled off the impeccably revivified Yellow Brick Road and then placed back, like sticker-book figurines. There\u2019s a loss of gravity to their movements. At times, they even seem to be floating. Toto, too, with his shock of matted fur, seems digitally fuzzy. And other people have garish enhancements: the Wicked Witch suddenly has a hugely prominent black hair growing out of the mole on her green chin.<\/p>\n<p>Even worse are the background actors. The main reason why so many scenes were trimmed and cut from the original film wasn\u2019t necessarily to tighten up the running time; it was also to cannibalize the Extras and reinsert them on the left and right sides of the newly extended, digitally enhanced scenery.<\/p>\n<p>So Munchkinland now has crowds of people standing behind Dorothy, in an A.I.-sweetened loop where they rock back and forth, waving their arms or shifting their weight endlessly in a computer-generated spell that prolongs their screen time. Some of the Extras\u2019 faces look smeared and oddly deformed, due to those same A.I. enhancements. More than a few times, they even stare, with dead-eyed smiles, straight into the camera. It\u2019s deeply unsettling and more than a little distracting.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1601626\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1601626\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/?attachment_id=1601626\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1601626\" data-lasso-id=\"2871782\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601626\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A giant projected head with greenish skin and glowing eyes looms over fiery bursts of red smoke, representing the exaggerated Wizard figure in Sphere\u2019s reimagined version of the film.\" width=\"970\" height=\"728\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg 4032w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=768,576 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=635,476 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=2048,1536 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=970,728 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=320,240 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=1920,1440 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=50,38 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1601626\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"A giant projected head with greenish skin and glowing eyes looms over fiery bursts of red smoke, representing the exaggerated Wizard figure in Sphere\u2019s reimagined version of the film.\" width=\"970\" height=\"728\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg 4032w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=768,576 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=635,476 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=2048,1536 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=970,728 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=320,240 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=1920,1440 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=50,38 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1601626\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A.I. augmentation brings new clarity and scale to the film\u2019s world, even as it introduces uncanny distortions. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo: Stephen Garrett for Observer<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Intriguingly, many scenes have less editing in them: instead of cutting between the Tin Man\u2019s solo dance and a shot of Dorothy and the Scarecrow watching him, for example, all three of them now share the same enormous frame\u2014the Tin Man in the middle, Dorothy and the Scarecrow on the right. Thanks again to A.I., the Tin Man\u2019s entire dance routine is seamless. But now Dorothy and the Scarecrow\u2019s sight lines don\u2019t match. Dorothy actually looks a bit bored, and seems to be staring off into the distance.<\/p>\n<p>Worst of all is how A.I. has compromised the film\u2019s emotionally poignant climax. In the original film, when Dorothy says goodbye to her companions, the camera fills the frame with them one at a time for each tender farewell. At Sphere, all three stand in a row, waiting for Dorothy to talk to them. Weirdly, each one is slightly out of focus\u2014and each only comes into focus once Dorothy starts to talk to them. When she stops talking to them, they stop emoting and go back out of focus. Then, like the Extras, each one goes into a powered-down mode, shifting back and forth as though in a trance.<\/p>\n<p>As an example of cutting-edge technology used to turn a national cultural treasure into a gloriously kinetic thrill ride, <i>The Wizard of Oz at Sphere<\/i> is certainly great and powerful. As a tool for enhancing the power of human connection through storytelling, it needs to keep waving its magic wands. We\u2019re definitely not in Kansas anymore, but we still have a long way to go before we get to Oz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As &#8216;Wicked: For Good&#8217; hits big screens, Sphere is hosting a wildly distended, dazzlingly supersized and grotesquely manipulated version of the 1939 classic film that inspired it.<\/p>\n <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/11\/review-sphere-the-wizard-of-oz-wicked-worth-it\/\">Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":177935309,"featured_media":1601626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"post_tag":[423957437,423815580],"company":[],"channel":[423868939,423868969],"location":[59354,423808209,423943031],"nyo_column":[],"person":[423915638],"nyo_post_hidden":[],"coauthor":[212940138],"class_list":{"0":"post-1601612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-sphere","8":"tag-the-wizard-of-oz","9":"channel-movies","10":"channel-culture","11":"location-nevada","12":"location-las-vegas","13":"location-united-states","14":"nyo_person-james-dolan"},"acf":{"homepage_position":"","homepage_title":"","homepage_excerpt":"","alternative_og_image":"","headline":{"seo_headline":""},"subheadline":{"optimized_seo_description":"","optimized_social_excerpt":""}},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/11\/review-sphere-the-wizard-of-oz-wicked-worth-it\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/observer.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?quality=80","coauthors_byline":"By Stephen Garrett","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"<img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=300&amp;h=225&amp;crop=1\" class=\"lazyload attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail\" alt=\"A giant projected head with greenish skin and glowing eyes looms over fiery bursts of red smoke, representing the exaggerated Wizard figure in Sphere\u2019s reimagined version of the film.\" decoding=\"async\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg 4032w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=768,576 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=635,476 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=2048,1536 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=970,728 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=320,240 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=1920,1440 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=50,38 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?quality=80&amp;w=300&amp;h=225&amp;crop=1\" class=\"lazyload attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail\" alt=\"A giant projected head with greenish skin and glowing eyes looms over fiery bursts of red smoke, representing the exaggerated Wizard figure in Sphere\u2019s reimagined version of the film.\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg 4032w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=768,576 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=635,476 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=2048,1536 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=970,728 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=320,240 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=1920,1440 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?resize=50,38 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript>","classes":["post-1601612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","tag-sphere","tag-the-wizard-of-oz","channel-movies","channel-culture","location-nevada","location-las-vegas","location-united-states","nyo_person-james-dolan","entry-grid"],"parent_channels":"Culture","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?quality=80&#038;w=300&#038;h=225&#038;crop=1","thumbnail_url_2x":"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/IMG_2265.jpeg?quality=80&#038;w=600&#038;h=450","excerpt_bare":"As 'Wicked: For Good' hits big screens, Sphere is hosting a wildly distended, dazzlingly supersized and grotesquely manipulated version of the 1939 classic film that inspired it.","is_sponsored":false,"formatted_date":"Nov 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