Everything to Know About the 'Wicked' Movie
Defy Gravity! Broadway's famed Wizard of Oz story, Wicked, is being adapted to film.
The Wicked movie is coming, and it is one of the most anticipated Broadway musicals being adapted into a film. Not only will Broadway fans be excited, but the characters will be portrayed by some of the most unique, well-known voices in Hollywood.
As more details continue to be released, 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. The movie will be directed by John M. Chu who directed Lin Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights. And in the most social media fashion, celebrities who are cast in the film took to their Instagram to share with their fans the excitement of participating in this upcoming project.
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 has a set release date on November 27, 2024. Part 2 was originally slated to be released near Christman 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.”
Who 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.
