Frank L. Baum’s The Wizard of Oz series is well known, even though the first book was released in 1900, over 100 years ago. The Oz stories have captivated generation after generation thanks to their charm and many adaptations. The most notable Oz adaptation was 1939’s The Wizard of Oz film, starring a young Judy Garland as Dorothy, a girl who is swept away to the land of Oz after a tornado tears through her home. The popularity of The Wizard of Oz led to many more adaptations – some that stayed close to the source material and others that went in exciting new directions. Hollywood’s love of the Oz franchise has seen numerous films released in the last few decades, from 2013’s Oz The Great and Powerful to the hit adaptation The Wiz in 1978. Even the Muppets went to Oz in 2005.

One of the most popular and well-known Oz adaptations is Stephen Schwartz’s musical Wicked, which was nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 2004, took home 3 of them, and won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. The show was adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which became a New York Times Bestseller after its release.

For years, the development of a film adaptation of Stephen Schwartz’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Wicked has been something fans have eagerly looked forward to. Finally, Jon M. Chu is bringing the fans what they’ve been waiting for, and with a star-studded cast, the upcoming Wicked adaptation holds plenty of promise! Wicked is set to be a two-part film series based on the musical and Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Wicked took ten years to find its cast and start production. There was a failed adaptation attempt in 2012 and director changes, but Universal’s Wicked will finally be coming to the big screen! We’re sure the film will be wonderful, so here’s everything we know about Jon M. Chu’s Wicked so far.

Updated February 23, 2024: This article has been updated by Jessica Peerez with more recent information regarding the highly anticipated Wicked.

Wicked: The Plot

Wicked
Wicked
Fantasy
Romance
Musical
Release Date
November 27, 2024
Director
Jon M. Chu
Cast
Cynthia Erivo , Ariana Grande , Jonathan Bailey , Marissa Bode , Michelle Yeoh , Jeff Goldblum
Main Genre
Fantasy

Wicked will be based on Gregory Maguire’s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Stephen Schwartz’s Broadway musical Wicked. According to starring actress Cynthia Erivo, the film will be different from the musical and “unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.” Sounds exciting!

In April 2022, director Jon M. Chu released a statement on Twitter regarding the film. This announcement revealed that there would be two films in the Wicked series and that the content of the musical was too big to fit into just one movie.

Wicked is a revisionist parallel story to The Wizard of Oz, following the Wicked Witch of the West from her adolescence to her death, as it happens in The Wizard of Oz. Through Wicked, we see a different side to the Wicked Witch and learn that the clear division between “good” and “evil” in the Oz stories might not be such a good thing. The film will most likely follow the storyline of the musical and, with friendship at its core, narrate the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba. In doing so, viewers can likely expect to see the film chronicle Elphaba's school days and her friendship with fellow witch Glinda, who goes on to become the Good Witch of the North while Elphaba gets her title of Wicked Witch of the West.

Wicked: The Cast

The cast of Wicked is star-studded, to say the least. The original roles of Elphaba and Glinda left some big shoes to fill, as Broadway stars Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth, respectively, originated the roles on Broadway. While there was hope the duo would reprise their roles in the film version, as the years went by, it became clearer that Universal Pictures wanted newer talent. Many had been rumored over the years, with names like Lea Michelle, Amy Adams, and Anne Hathaway having been floated at various points in time.

The talented ensemble includes Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande stepping into the roles of Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. For a movie musical, the singing talent of the cast is crucial, and Jon M. Chu’s choices so far have been phenomenal. Cynthia Erivo is best known for her role as Celie in the Broadway production of The Color Purple, where she took home the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress. Erivo also received two Academy Award nominations for her role as Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet and for the original song “Stand Up” she wrote and performed for the film.

The role is a dream come true for Grande, who has long been an ardent fan of the musical. Ariana Grande’s singing abilities are without question, and her 2020 cover of “The Wizard and I” from the musical Wicked makes us certain she will nail her role as Galinda in the film.

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Jonathan Bailey has also been confirmed as the third lead and romantic interest, Fiyero. Bailey is perhaps best known for his role as Anthony in Bridgerton, but he is also an incredibly talented and award-winning stage and musical theatre actor. The rest of the cast includes Michelle Yeoh, taking on the role of Madame Morrible, Jeff Goldblum playing The Wizard, and Ethan Slater who will play Boq. Marissa Bode has been slated for the role of Nessarose, Elphaba's sister. Bowen Yang will also have a role in the film as Pfannee, a classmate of the witches at Shiz. Other additions include Bronwyn James, Aaron Teoh, Colin Michael Carmichael, Keala Settle and Adam James.

Wicked Troubled Production

Attempts to get a film version off the ground for Wicked have been long and difficult. In 2011, Salma Hayek's production company looked to adapt a non-musical version of Gregory Maguire's Wicked book as a television miniseries with ABC. In 2012, hot off releasing Les Miserables, Universal Pictures secured the film rights to the musical Wicked, and producer Marc Platt was brought on board, but progress was slow. Then, in 2016, they announced that Stephen Daldry, known for directing Billy Elliot and The Reader, would helm the project with a December 20, 2019, release date set. The following year, Universal removed the film from the release schedule and gave that December 2019 release date to the eventual box office flop, Cats.

Related: Every Wizard of Oz Film Adaptation, Ranked

The film seemed to be cursed as in February 2019, Universal finally set a release date for December 22, 2021, but it would again lose it due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Sing 2 would take its place on the release schedule. After four years of developing the film, Stephen Daldry left the project in October 2020. By February 2021, Universal finally found a new director in the form of John M. Chu, who previously directed the hit film Crazy Rich Asians, and who had a new big-budget musical, In the Heights, set for release that summer. The movie would hit one final snag as production was halted due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, which left the movie just ten days away from completion. Luckily, the strike resolved, and the movie is now ready for release.

Release Date

Wicked
Universal Pictures

Wicked is both a big play with a lot of passionate fans but also a huge novel. In an effort to satisfy fans of both (and also make more money), Universal Pictures has announced they are splitting Wicked into two parts. The Wicked Part One was initially slated for a December 2024 release date. However, in good news for fans, the date has now been moved up, and the first entry will debut on November 27, 2024. It is currently set to go up against Moana 2 at the box office.

Wicked Part Two will be released the same month in the following year, with a scheduled date of November 26, 2025. It will also go head to head with another Disney animated movie, Zootopia 2. Due to needing to beef up the material to support a two-part film, many subplots from the box will likely be added back into the story. Fans got their first look at Wicked during a Super Bowl spot that aired on February 11, 2024, and now Wicked Part One has jumped to the top of many people's most anticipated movies of the year.

Check out the official teaser for Wicked right here!