Everything to Know About the 'Wicked' Movie
The wait is almost over to see the film adaptation of Wicked this fall.
Whether or not you're a fan of Broadway, the upcoming Wicked movie has probably reached your social feed in some way. The highly anticipated film adaption of the classic play starring Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba is set to release on November 22, meaning the wait is almost over.
Here is everything we know about the Wicked movie:
Who will be playing the iconic roles of Elphaba and Glinda?
Back in November 2021, it was announced that Ariana Grande will step into the role of Glinda and Tony Award-winning Cynthia Erivo will play Elphaba.
For fans of Grande, seeing the singer play Glinda the Good Witch is huge, seeing as this role combines her musical talent and on-screen experience from her Nickelodeon days. Playing Grande's misunderstood counterpart is Erivo, L'OFFICIEL's Spring 2023 cover star and a heavy hitter on Broadway. Her performance in the on-stage revival of The Color Purple won her a Tony for "Best Actress in a Musical" and a Grammy for "Best Musical Theater Album."
These two women have the talent to fill the shoes of the iconic Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, who famously played Glinda and Elphaba for Wicked's on-stage debut in 2003. Since then, the musical has been one of the best-selling shows on Broadway, with a massive fan base with high expectations for the on-screen version.
The movie will be directed by John M. Chu, who directed Lin Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, which married a musical and film together in a beautiful way, proving that Chu knows how to bring the stage to the screen for modern audiences. With all this excitement in mind, celebrities in the film took to their Instagram accounts to share their excitement about participating in a huge project with their fans.
In her cover interview for L'OFFICIEL USA Spring 2023, Erivo recalled seeing Wicked on Broadway for the first time on her 25th birthday. "It’s so strange. I don’t remember getting out of the theater or getting on the bus. But I remember when I got off the bus, I felt really alive, because I just had never thought about a story that way," explained the actress. "I think it was the first time I’d seen a villain’s story retold in a way that gave you the reason why they were the way they were. And I just loved the idea that this woman actually had more light in her than people would allow her to have."
When will the movie be released?
Chu shared a post on his Instagram profile with an update on the movie. Filming began on December 7, 2022, and it will divide into two movies. The first of which is coming out November 22, 2024. Part 2 was originally slated to be released near Christmas time the following year, but now has an earlier release date of November 2025 — just in time for Thanksgiving.
Chu explained his reasoning for creating two movies, “It became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it.”
The 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike was a challenge for this film as they were nearly complete with filming when all production was immediately halted. Though it was a challenge, as it was for the entire film industry, the film has been able to stick to its original release date.
Who else is in the cast?
Some of the known people in the cast as of today are Michelle Yeoh who will be playing Madame Morrible; Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey who will be Fiyero (the main love interest); and Bowen Yang as Pfannee. Jeff Goldblum will also give life to The Wizard of Oz, Ethan Slater to Boq, and Keala Settle to Miss Coddle.
What will the storyline be?
According to Chu, the movie will resemble Broadway’s Wizard of Oz origin story where two young witches, Glinda and Elphaba, grow up in the Emerald City to become the Good Witch of the North and the Wicked Witch of the West. The film captures the timeless tale of evil in its origins and how the outcasted Elphaba was shaped into being wicked to the fictional world of Oz and real-life fans of the classic film.
