All About the Wicked Movie
From the release date to the official trailer, here’s everything to know about the Wicked movie Updated on Nov 1, 2024
Fans of Broadway musical Wicked have been waiting years for the stage show to get its big-screen adaptation. We’ll call it wonderful that it’s finally happening. A Wicked movie was said to be in the works, with plenty of starts and stops, including a coronavirus delay, from the time it became a Broadway hit in 2003.
There’s been a lot of thought as to the right approach – promotion for an animated version, with hopes that original Broadway stars Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth will reprise their roles. But now, 20 years after it first captivated theater audiences, Wicked is ready to work its magic again.
Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, telling the “true story” of the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, and her school days when she first befriended the popular girl, G(a)linda. The musical follows their journey from mutually hating roommates at Shiz University to unlikely friends to political enemies as the Witch and her cronies demonize Elphaba and elevate Glinda. Meanwhile, both women fall in love with the same man, Fiyero, the party boy
With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, this musical became an instant classic. Schwartz and Holzman adapted the script for the screen, and their original Broadway producer, Marc Platt, also produced the film version.
Who’s directing Wicked?
Universal needed a music expert to helm their long-term adaptation. They found it in Jon M. Chu, director of the big-screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights and executive producer of Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration.
After original director Stephen Daldry (The Reader) stepped down, Chu stepped in to fill the role.
Who plays Glinda and Elphaba?
Fan speculation over who would follow Elphaba’s green skincare routine and Galinda’s pink popularity raged for years. But in the end, Chu chose a Broadway singer and pop star to host his musical extravaganza.
Tony winner Cynthia Erivo (Widows, Harriet) will play Elphaba, while Grammy winner Ariana Grande will play blonde Galinda. Erivo won Tony gold for her breakthrough performance as Celie in the revival of The Color Purple, while Grande has been campaigning to play Glinda for more than half of her life (she sang “The Wizard and I” on NBC’s 15th anniversary special).
Grande even got the blessing of real Galinda, Kristin Chenoweth. Meanwhile, Erivo is already planning how she will perform Elphaba’s signature song, “Defying Gravity.” He previously told EW, “I’ve listened to it, and I’ve sung it. I just go with it, of course. There’s a temptation to push it and do too much with it. I don’t know that’s my method. I think my method is to communicate the meaning of the song as much as I can.”
Who else is in the cast?
The two witches weren’t the only actors whose lives changed forever. Chu also announced her Fiyero, Madam Morrible, Boq, and Nessarose.
Jonathan Bailey is Fiyero
For a man to make Elphaba feel wicked, Chu needed a true romantic hero, and he couldn’t have done better than Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey. Having wowed audiences with Netflix’s Anthony Bridgerton, he will now use his musical theater credentials as a fixture at the heart of the show’s love triangle.
He’s the perfect person for this role. It looks like the role was made for him.
Michelle Yeoh is Madam Morrible
Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once) stars as Madam Morrible, the principal of Shiz University and the Witch’s manipulative advisor.
Yeoh described the role as a risky proposition, a move from his more dramatic and action-based work. “I’m trying something new now – shooting Jon Chu’s Wicked, which will be my first musical,” says Yeoh. “It’s so exciting, and I can’t wait for you all to see it. It’s a risk, but you never know what doors will open for you unless you try them all.”
Jeff Goldblum is the Wizard
Then there’s the con man himself, the Kansas carnival barker turned political leader, the Wizard, and he’ll be played by Jeff Goldblum, who we’re sure will give him the smarmy nature necessary for the character.
Goldblum told Jimmy Kimmel that working on Wicked reignited his childhood fear of witches. “I shouldn’t talk about it, but one day I was filming and I found myself crying with fear,” she said. “Childhood fears came back to me and I told Cynthia Erivo, I said, ‘You know, I remember my first dream I ever had.'”
He also noted that he still dreads watching 1939’s The Wizard of Oz because of Wicked Witch and even recently failed to show it to his own children because he had to turn it off out of fear. “Witches scared me! And I showed them the film and we didn’t finish it,” he concluded. “The Witch is scary. Margaret Hamilton. Terrifying. You should see our witches, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. So good.”
Peter Dinklage is Dr. Dillamond
For months, speculation has raged regarding Dr. Dillamond in the film — will that character be in the film or will he be cut? If yes, who will play him? Is Kate Middleton secretly filming a cameo as the Shiz University goat?
But at CinemaCon 2024, all is revealed — and Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage will voice the good doctor, a goat, who is also a history professor at the old Shiz. In the stage show, the character sings, “Something Bad,” which is a warning to Elphaba about the dark forces occurring in Oz that impact the talking animals, including herself.
How many Wicked movies will there be?
A story of friendship, Wicked is a powerful reminder that two are better than one. The filmmakers and Universal took that literally, splitting the musical into two films.
“As we prepared for production over the past year, it became impossible to combine Wicked’s story into one film without causing real damage to the film,” Chu wrote in a statement he shared on Twitter. “When we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions started to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that had entertained us all for years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one Wicked film but two films. ! With more space, we can tell Wicked’s story as it was meant to be told while bringing more depth and surprises to the journeys of these beloved characters.”
This causes mixed opinions from fans waiting for the Wicked film, many think that separating the 2 films from the Broadway musical is very unnecessary because the distance from Part 1 to Part 2 is 1 year, which is very inefficient, because in the Broadway musical there is only a gap of 15 -30 minutes for the cast to prepare. Apart from the negative response to this break, there are also many fans who think that this break has no effect because this break gives the crew and filmmakers more time to explore the films further. However, we hope that this gap can produce maximum results
Promo for Wicked
For this stunning film, a lot of promos were used, starting from the teaser they posted during the Super Bowl event to collaborations with many big brands such as Mattels, Target, Sephora, etc.
let’s see what can we get during the promo of wicked movie.
WICKED x MATTEL
Mattel x Wicked is one of the collaborations that fans have been waiting for to be able to collect G(a)linda and Elphaba dolls, there are several variants for this collaboration from deluxe dolls to singing dolls. This is very encouraging for collectors and children to play with the singing dolls.
WICKED x R.E.M BEAUTY
Wicked x r.e.m beauty, Ariana Grande (Glinda) own makeup line, this is one of the most awaited collaborations from the general public who loves both music and makeup, this collaboration pampers us with many new products with a touch of wicked movie in each design.
WICKED x ALDO
leading global fashion brand, celebrates their latest collaboration with Wicked, a generation-defining musical film. This limited edition capsule collection is designed to bring the magic of the world of Oz into everyday life. The launch of this collection will take place on October 17, featuring shoe and accessory products with inspired designs.
WICKED x CROCS
Crocs has dropped a collection of official Wicked clogs that’ll finally have you decide whether you’re more of an Elphaba or Glinda. The cozy footwear brand released the exclusive shoes on Tuesday (Oct. 15), featuring two styles inspired by the Wicked stars for you to choose from
WICKED x H&M
H&M is partnering with Universal Products and Experiences on a new capsule collection with a wicked sensibility. The fashion company’s new capsule collection, which features apparel inspired by the film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical Wicked, launches online and in select stores.
There is a lot of information that you can get to be your consideration in deciding to watch this very interesting film, we hope you can watch WICKED only on Theaters nov 22, 2024, For Good!
See you there, Bad Witch and Good Witch!