The final scene of “Wicked” is a cinematic triumph. A defiant Cynthia Erivo soars through the sky, circling above Oz and belting out “Defying Gravity” as her enemies look on in awe. It evokes tears and applause and even makes the audience jump out of their theater seats as Erivo hits his high notes.

But you don’t have to buy a ticket to attend now. The entire four-minute conclusion to the first part of the Universal hit is currently available for free on social platforms such as X and TikTok.

That’s because fans can’t stop taking photos and recording entire, minute-long clips of Erivo and her co-star Ariana Grande battling it out in the Emerald City. Part of this piracy (and make no mistake, that’s what it is) serves to document the feverish acceptance of all things “bad.” Others are intended to convey other forms of worship.

There’s grainy footage of a moviegoer trying to score the same marks as Erivo during her big number. There are hundreds of posts about Grande’s performance of “Popular,” another hit from the original musical, with fans praising the pop queen’s comedic abilities and dancing prowess – many of which are tagged with the banner “Spoilers!” There are also countless videos of a surprise cameo appearance by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who played the roles of Glinda and Elphaba in the original Broadway production of Wicked. These videos and photos were live and viewed millions of times, and the film had only been in theaters since 2017 five whole days.

“Wicked” is hardly an exception. Supercuts of all the sex scenes between Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey in A24’s “Queer” have been available on X since the beginning of September. Shirtless, bloodied Paul Mescal rowing an ancient ship in Gladiator II is posted thirstily on TikTok saying the film is “for the girls.”

How does this get past the studios, which are equipped with huge anti-piracy teams and armies of lawyers? By the way, how do you overcome the community guidelines on the social media platforms where copyrighted material is posted?

“Something happened after the pandemic where cinema behavior really changed,” a top film executive said on condition of anonymity. The executive is referring to younger audiences who have become more courageous in sharing this voluminous material from the sanctity of the cinema, where phones are supposedly banned.

“They have a different relationship with the material, for them everything is just satisfaction,” sighed the manager, who (along with two other industry sources) pointed to a tipping point for this kind of behavior. It was the July release of Deadpool & Wolverine, Marvel’s superhero mashup, that helped save the 2024 box office and preserve the A-list shine of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.

“Something Really “That’s what happened with this movie,” the source said, specifically referencing Reynolds and “Deadpool & Wolverine” director Shawn Levy. Both men shared and interacted with social media content that was pirated from theaters on opening weekend – many of which showed enthusiastic crowds reacting to cameos from Channing Tatum, Wesley Snipes and Jennifer Garner.

A spokesman for Reynolds did not respond to requests for comment, and Levy had no comment. A source familiar with Levy’s thinking said he never intentionally shared footage filmed in theaters and was a staunch opponent of piracy. Universal Pictures did not comment on the “evil” piracy, but a source familiar with the company said that in most cases internal teams are actively working to remove the illegal footage. This conundrum is made all the more interesting when you consider that “Wicked” is a musical, and one could argue that its true value lies in breathtaking numbers like “Defying Gravity.” Think of 2006’s “Dreamgirls,” where the filmmakers banned eventual Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson from performing the torch song “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going.” about the Oscars. The argument? Buy a ticket if you want your world to be rocked by her singing.