Universal Pictures’ Wicked: Everything You Need To Know About The Jon M. Chu Directed Musical Fantasy
Broadway musical Wicked is finally coming to the big screen with a star-studded cast including Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, and more.
The Hit Broadway Musical Fantasy Wicked is all set to hit the Theaters on Christmas 2024. (Photo Credit – YouTube)
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The Tony-winning Broadway musical, based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, a Wizard of Oz prequel from Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, and the most iconic villain origin story is finally hitting the big screen next holiday season.
Wizard first hit Broadway in 2003 and won three Tony Awards, becoming one of the most triumphant musicals in Broadway history. Adaptation of this beloved production for the screen is surely to become a massive success as its fans are eagerly awaiting its arrival.
The fantasy musical film will be directed by In the Heights director Jon M. Chu. Here are all the details that we know so far.
Interestingly, there will be two Wicked films and each will premiere on “successive Christmas holidays beginning December 2024”, as per Jon M. Chu. Although Universal announced that the movie was originally set for a December 2019 release, due to production delays, the final release date for Wicked Part 1 is set for November 27, 2024. As for the second part, the date hasn’t been released yet.
Wicked Trailer
The first trailer of Wicked dropped during the Super Bowl and includes snippets of famous songs including Defying Gravity and Popular. The trailer showed Elphaba and Glinda’s first meeting, their unlikely friendship, and their meeting with the Wizard of Oz. You can watch the trailer here:
Wicked Cast
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are confirmed to take the lead roles as Elphaba and Glinda. Erivo’s character is originated by Idina Menzel on Broadway and Glinda by Kristin Chenoweth. Alongside these two stars, Jeff Goldblum will play The Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, a headmistress at Shiz University, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Marissa Bode as Nessarose (Elphaba’s younger sister), Ethan Slater as Boq, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, Bronwyn James as ShenShen, Keala Settle as Miss Coddle, Aaron Teoh as Shiz student Averic, and Colin Michael Carmichael as professor Nikidik. Marc Platt will produce the Universal film.
Wicked Plot
Based on Gregory Maguire’s bestselling novel, Wicked will follow the backstory of Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West before they become iconic figures in The Wizard of Oz. The tale unfolds during their time as roommates at Shiz University, initially known as Galinda and Elphaba. Their relationship starts with conflict but evolves into a deep and enduring friendship. Their separate paths ultimately lead them to their well-known roles, alongside origin stories of other familiar characters from the Oz universe.
