That’s a Wrap! Ariana Grande and 'Wicked' Cast Mark End of Filming
Isn’t this news wonderful? After nearly 10 years of development, the long-awaited film adaptation of Broadway’s Wicked is finally on the way.
The film version of the musical, a theatrical staple since its 2004 Broadway debut, has been in development since 2012.
Wicked, based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, tells the interconnected story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch long before Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy Gale dropped in. In the prequel, the two aspiring witches meet while students at Shiz University, navigating friendship, romance, magical training and learning to embrace their own identities.
It was announced in February 2021 that Jon M. Chu, known for directing Crazy Rich Asians and In The Heights, had been tapped to helm the two-part movie adaptation of Wicked. Chu cast Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Galinda and Elphaba, respectively.
Keep scrolling to find out everything we know so far about the highly anticipated Wicked movies:
It was announced in November 2021 that the Harriet star and the “Positions” singer had landed the impressive roles of Elphaba and Galinda, roles which were originated by Menzel and Chenoweth on Broadway. The casting news even fulfilled the Florida native’s long-held dreams after she tweeted in 2011, “Loved seeing Wicked again… amazing production! Made me realize again how badly I want 2 play Glinda at some point in my life! #DreamRole.” Shutterstock (2)
The Crazy Rich Asians filmmaker was enlisted to helm the project in February 2021, writing via Instagram, “Thank you Marc Platt, Stephen [Schwartz], Winnie [Holzman] and Universal Pictures for trusting in me to translate this incredible story for all the fans and future fans of Elphaba and Glinda. I will protect this vigorously and hopefully bring a few new surprises along the way.” Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
The film is slated to begin production in June 2022 in the U.K., according to an October 2021 report from The Hollywood Reporter. Alastair Muir/Shutterstock
The In the Heights director previously teased his work on the musical during a June 2021 interview with Collider. “Yes, of course, we're going to have Oz, and you're going to be in this crazy world, and you're going to revisit this innocent place and you're going to see that it's not as innocent as it had been in the past,” Chu told the outlet. “But you're also going to see that the relationship between these two women [Elphaba and Glinda] is more real than ever, that we're going to be that close to them. We're going to root for them to try to get into that school or when one crosses the other. You're going to hate the other one at some point. You're going to want them to make up at another point, and you're going to feel when they separate. That's the most important thing. The spectacle? That's the easy part, we can hire a lot of people to do that. It's those little moments … That’s what's going to make that." Alastair Muir/Shutterstock
The original musical songs — including the likes of “Popular,” “Defying Gravity” and “One Short Day” — have become classics in their own right. However, composer Steven Schwartz revealed his intentions to pen “at least two” new songs for the filmed version. Schwartz told Variety in May 2017 that there are “new songs planned” and the movie won’t be an exact replica of the Broadway show. “There are things that work on stage but won’t work on film. In order to do something that will work on its own merits, you have to do something different," he said at the time. “The only concern is people who would be coming expecting to see a filmed version of the play. They’re not going to see that.” Alastair Muir/Shutterstock
More than 30,000 fans signed a Change.org petition begging Universal Pictures not to cast James Corden, who recently appeared in the Cats movie, in the movie adaptation. "James Corden in no way shape or form should be in or near the production of Wicked the movie," the petition, hoping for 50,000 signatures, reads. "That’s pretty much it." Magnus Sundholm/Shutterstock
Following the musical’s acclaim within its early Broadway run, Platt and Universal started developing a film project nearly a decade before Grande and Erivo’s casting was announced. The Daldry-directed flick was initially scheduled to premiere in December 2019 before further delays set the project back. Alastair Muir/Shutterstock
Erivo teased one of her Wicked character’s most iconic duets during a March 2022 appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden. She sang a rendition of “For Good” with an employee of the CBS talk show during a round of "Instant, Mystery Duets." YouTube
“I haven’t seen myself as Elphaba yet,” Erivo told Entertainment Tonight in April 2022. “We’re sort of trying to decide, like, how green we’re gonna go and, like, what the stages are and whether or not it changes as she changes. [John Chu is] really open to making this as creative as we possibly can. He asked me at one point if I wanted to be actually green or CGI green and I was like, ‘I’d like to actually be green because I’m not sure that the CGI will sit the way you need it to sit.’ I want it to still feel like it’s my skin.” She added: “I will feel like I’m playing this character [with green-painted skin] as opposed to looking at myself as I am now and then they fill in the green. I think it will help me perform because I will know when I look at my hands, I’ll see someone who is green.” Jordan Strauss/AP/Shutterstock
Chu announced in April 2022 that the film adaptation would be split into two movies. "Here's what happened: As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of WICKED into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” the director wrote in a statement via Twitter. “As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one WICKED movie but TWO!!!! With more space, we can tell the story of WICKED as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters.” ITV/Shutterstock
The first Wicked movie will hit theaters on November 27, 2024. The second will premiere one year later on November 25, 2025. David Fisher/Shutterstock
Before kicking off filming, Erivo and Grande have proved they are already as close as Elphie and Galinda. The Tony Award winner posted a sweet July 2022 Instagram video in which the pair embraced after her Royal Albert Hall concert in London. Courtesy of Cynthia Erivo/Instagram (2)
In September 2022, Erivo opened up about the challenges of recording some of the musical's iconic songs for the big screen. "I've been listening to it, and I've sung it. I kind of just go with it naturally," she told Entertainment Weekly about preparing to record "Defying Gravity," Wicked's most well-known number. "There's the temptation to push and to do too much with it. I don't know that that's what my method will be. I think my method will be to communicate the meaning of the song as much as I can." Rob Latour/Shutterstock
Chu confirmed in September 2022 that Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey would join the cast as leading man Fiyero. “He’s perfect, they’re perfect. They’d be perfect together. Born to be forever….. I am too excited to pretend this hasn’t been happening. We have a Fiyero,” the director excitedly tweeted at the time, shortly before Bailey and Grande applauded the news via their respective Instagrams. Brett D. Cove/Splash News
“I love you @cynthiaerivo,” the “Dangerous Woman” singer captioned a September 2022 Instagram Story of the two women’s dancing shoes. While Grande’s Galinda wore delicate pink ballet slippers, Erivo opted for black slip-ons and green socks. Courtesy of Ariana Grande/Instagram
“Somewhere in Oz,” Erivo captioned an October 2022 selfie with her fellow Wicked witch. Courtesy of Cynthia Erivo/Instagram
Ethan Slater, best known for his Tony-nominated role of SpongeBob SquarePants, is set to play Shiz University student Boq (and Nessarose’s eventual love interest) on the big screen. “@EthanSlater it is an honor to have you attending [Shiz University],” Chu gushed via Instagram Story in December 2022. “I’ve been a big fan of yours for a long time and I can’t wait for the world to see you bringing Boq to life!" MediaPunch/Shutterstock
Michelle Yeoh will portray the role of Shiz University's headmistress, Madame Morrible, Variety reported in December 2022. Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Wicked completed its casting with Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, Aaron Teoh and Colin Michael Carmichael joining the film. Bode will portray Nessarose, Elphaba’s sister, while Yang and James are set to play fellow classmates Pfannee and ShenShen, respectively. Settle, for her part, landed the role of Miss Coddle, and Teoh will play Avaris. Carmichael, meanwhile, was cast as Nikidik. Shutterstock (3)
“I was just on the set of Wicked. I’m not supposed to talk about that. But it’s been out and about,” Jeff Goldblum said during a March 2023 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, without revealing who he will be playing. “I was shooting one day and I found myself tearing up in fear, a childhood fear came back to me.” Youtube
During a June 2023 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Yang confirmed that the talking goat and Shiz University professor Doctor Dillard will indeed be in the films, much to Andy Cohen's chagrin. "The goat is staying, unfortunately, the goat is in," the Saturday Night Live personality said as Cohen groaned and rolled his eyes. When asked who was portraying the role, Yang replied: "Right now it’s a lovely puppeteer. They’re going to cast her later, but right now it’s a puppeteer named Louisa and she’s been doing amazing line reads.” Charles Sykes/Bravo
Chu confirmed via Twitter in July 2023 that production had been halted amid the SAG-AFTRA strike, in which the actors are not able to work until the union and the AMPTP come to a resolution. “Not done yet. Just paused until the strike is over and we can finish the last pieces of the movie,” he tweeted. “We were only a few days away from being done so we were SO close. It’s been very painful to put a halt to it all but we will be back! And we will finish properly strong when the time is right. My heart goes out to our cast and crew who were cut short of what we came here to complete together.” Chu also noted that the release dates “shouldn’t be affected” by the delayed production schedule. Rob Latour/Shutterstock
“I think the fans of the original musical should prepare to get their minds blown,” Bailey told E! News in November 2023. “It's such a psychologically rich material. And we know it as really exciting theater with an incredible score and amazing numbers, but when you put it on film, the reality of these characters and the nuances of their psychology, it's just going to blow everyone's mind.” Bailey, who plays Fiyero, told Andy Cohen on his “Radio Andy” show earlier that month that he filmed Wicked, Netflix’s Bridgerton and USA’s Fellow Travelers concurrently. Karwai Tang/WireImage
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