Everything We Know About the Wicked Movies

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The Emerald City is getting a big-screen adaptation! Jon M. Chu, who directed the adaptations of In the Heights and Crazy Rich Asians, will be taking on the two-part adaptation of the beloved musical Wicked.

Here's everything we know about the Wicked movie(s).

The Wicked movie will be in two parts.

"We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one ‘Wicked’ movie but two!" Chu wrote in a statement. "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."

Part one will likely end with "Defying Gravity," the end of act one. "We found it very difficult to get past ‘Defying Gravity’ without a break," Wicked songwriter Stephen Schwartz explained. "That song is written specifically to bring a curtain down, and whatever scene to follow it without a break just seemed hugely anti-climactic." Schwartz is working on at least one new song for the movies.

Wicked will star Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.

The movie will feature Grande as Glinda and Erivo as Elphaba. "I think it's going to be unlike anything you've ever seen before," Erivo told Entertainment Tonight about the movies. "I think we're going to enjoy the magic of it. We're going to try and put our own spin on what we know already and show you a story about two women [who] are sisters."

Grande has long been open about her desire to play Glinda. "Loved seeing Wicked again… amazing production! Made me realize again how badly I want 2 play Glinda at some point in my life! #DreamRole," she tweeted in 2011.

"I’m not sure if I’ve ever been this proud," Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda on Broadway, tweeted about Grande's casting, with a screenshot of the above tweet. "From the very first day I met you, you were destined for this role. Congratulations @ArianaGrande! The best Glinda you will be with Cynthia by your side I love you!!"

Watch Ariana Grande perform "The Wizard and I":

Jonathan Bailey will play Fiyero.

The Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey joined the cast as Fiyero in September 2022. "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," director Jon M. Chu tweeted. "We have a Fiyero!!!! #JonathanBailey #Wicked."

Bailey posted an Instagram after the news came out, writing, "Dancing through," with a green hart, a nod to Fiyero's song "Dancing Through Life." His Bridgerton co-star Simone Ashley commented, "Oh YES."

In addition, in December, it was revealed Jeff Goldblum is playing the Wizard of Oz, a conman revealed to be Oscar Zoroaster Diggs, and Michelle Yeoh will take on the role of Madame Morrible, the head of Elphaba and Glinda's school. Plus, Ethan Slater will play Boq, Bowen Yang will play Pfannee, and Bronwyn James will play ShenShen, and Keala Settle will play a new character, Miss Coddle.

Yeoh calls her role a risk, telling Entertainment Weekly that Wicked will be her first musical. She said, "It's very exciting, and I can't wait for you all to see it. It was a risk, but you will never know which doors will open for you unless you try them all."

In April 2024, it was announced Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage will be the voice of Dr. Dillamond, the goat professor at Shiz University.

Production began in October 2022.

Ariana Grande shared some snaps of rehearsals on her Instagram:

Later that month, Grande shared a post with blonde hair, seemingly implying the movies are about to begin filming. Carl Bembridge, a celebrity hairstylist, commented bubble emojis and "here she is," a direct reference to Glinda and her magical bubbles.

In March 2023, Grande and Erivo posted "up to (no) good," a nod at the Wicked song "For Good."

In April, Chu posted on Instagram two (very dark) snaps from the film, showing Grande and Erivo in character. He wrote, "You weren’t told the whole story. What happens when you veer off the Yellow Brick Road? FIRST LOOK of the #WickedMovie … currently in production in Oz."

Erivo commented, "It’s been wonderful making magic with you," with a series of green hearts. Following delays surrounding the SAG-AFTRA strike, filming on Wicked wrapped in early 2024, and during the Super Bowl, the movie's first trailer dropped (watch above).

The movie is adapted from the long-running Broadway musical.

The movie will be adapted by the Tony-winning show, which was itself based on Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. The story follows the relationship between Galinda (later Glinda), "the good witch," and Elphaba, "the wicked witch of the west."

"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 said. "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."

When does Wicked premiere?

Part one is set to premiere November 27, 2024 (Thanksgiving eve), and part two will premiere November 26, 2025. We'll update this story as soon as more information becomes available.

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