| Public details: Wicked (also known as Wicked: Part One) is an upcoming American musical fantasy film directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman. It is the first of a two-part film adaptation of the stage musical of the same name by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman, which in turn was based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire and characters from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The film stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, with Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode (in her film debut), Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, and Peter Dinklage in supporting roles. Set in the Land of Oz, largely before Dorothy Gale's arrival from Kansas, the plot follows green-skinned Elphaba and her path to ultimately becoming the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside an unlikely friendship and later rivalry with a classmate who later becomes Glinda the Good.[1]
Universal Pictures announced the adaptation in 2012 with Marc Platt as a producer. After a long development and multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chu was hired to direct, with Erivo and Grande cast in their respective roles in 2021. Principal photography began in December 2022 in England, paused in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, eventually resuming then concluding in January 2024.
Theatrical release in the United States is scheduled for November 22, 2024, with Wicked: Part Two slated for November 26, 2025. |
