'Wicked' sing-alongs fuel renewed debate on movie etiquette: '9/10 movie but 1/10 audience'

• Audiences have flocked to see "Wicked" since its release in theaters this week.
• But some moviegoers have complained about people singing along while watching.
• The issue has sparked a fresh debate on movie theater etiquette.

"Wicked" arrived in theaters this week to largely positive reviews.

But while the film itself may be going down well with audiences, some have been less than thrilled to find their fellow moviegoers singing along and giving their best impressions of Elphaba and Glinda (played by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande).

The film adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical of the same name has since prompted a fresh debate over how audiences should behave.

For its part, AMC Theatres has asked moviegoers to keep quiet during screenings of the film, which landed in theaters on November 22.

But it seems not everyone has got the message.

One TikTok user said in a video that has gained more than 1.3 million views: "I'm here to warn everyone that the singing is, in fact, happening, and it's worse than you would expect."

"Not only were people singing at the top of their lungs during 'Defying Gravity,' but what was almost worse is people whisper singing, and their timing was off so you would just hear little whispers of the songs or even just some of the words before they were said," they added.

Another TikTok user wrote of their experience watching the film: "The rumors are true; the theater kids really did do a sing-along."

"9/10 movie but 1/10 audience," they added in the caption.

Weighing in on the debate in an interview with StayTunedNBC, Grande and Erivo said they understood people wanting to sing along.

"I say if you come the first time and you sing through, sing through. But come a second time and let us sing to you," Erivo said.

"And if someone throws popcorn at you or their phone or something, maybe stop," Grande joked.

"Wicked" isn't the first movie in recent years to spark debate about how people should act during films.

In 2023, when Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour" concert film was released in theaters, videos of fans leaving their seats to sing and dance in the aisles were met with criticism online.

However, for "Wicked," there may be a solution to keep both sides happy — special sing-a-long screenings will begin showing in roughly 1,000 North American cinemas from Christmas Day onwards, Variety has reported.

The Universal Pictures film, directed by Jon M. Chu, is expected to have one of the biggest domestic opening weekends of the year.

After making $19.2 million in advance screenings, the movie is reportedly heading for a domestic debut of $120 million.