Wicked (2024 film)

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.

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.

Cast

 * Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp, a misunderstood young woman born with green skin who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West
 * Karis Musongole as young Elphaba Thropp
 * Ariana Grande as Galinda Upland, a popular young woman who later becomes Glinda the Good
 * Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, the Headmistress of Shiz University
 * Jeff Goldblum as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
 * Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero Tigelaar, the Winkie prince who meets Elphaba and Galinda at school
 * Ethan Slater as Boq, a Munchkin in love with Galinda
 * Marissa Bode as Nessarose Thropp, Elphaba's paraplegic younger sister who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the East
 * Bowen Yang as Pfannee, one of Galinda's college friends
 * Bronwyn James as ShenShen, another of Galinda's college friends
 * Keala Settle as Miss Coddle, a new character created for this film
 * Peter Dinklage as the voice of Doctor Dillamond, a Goat and History professor at Shiz University
 * Aaron Teoh as Averic, Fiyero's friend
 * Grecia de la Paz as Gilligan, a new character created for this film
 * Colin Michael Carmichael as Professor Nikidik, a professor at Shiz University
 * Adam James as Galinda's father, a new character created for this film
 * Andy Nyman as Frexspar Thropp, Elphaba's father and the Governor of Munchkinland

Development
In 2003, the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, a revisionist exploration of the characters and setting of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was adapted as the Broadway musical Wicked. The musical was produced by Universal Pictures' stage division and directed by Joe Mantello, with musical staging by Wayne Cilento. The Broadway production has inspired long-run productions in Chicago, London, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, as well as Germany and Japan. It was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning three, and is the 4th longest-running Broadway show in history, with over 7,500 performances. The original Broadway production starred Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda.

In a 2009 interview, Maguire stated that he had sold the rights to ABC to make an independent non-musical TV adaptation of Wicked. It would not be based on Holzman's script. On January 9, 2011, it was reported by Entertainment Weekly that ABC would be teaming up with Salma Hayek and her production company to create a TV miniseries of Wicked based solely on Maguire's novel. No further information, such as casting, had been revealed yet.

Chenoweth and Menzel were mentioned as possible film leads. Lea Michele and Amy Adams were also rumored to be potential leads. Potential writers included Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz, while J. J. Abrams, Rob Marshall, James Mangold, and Ryan Murphy were mentioned as possible candidates for director. In December 2012, following the success of Les Misérables, Marc Platt, also a producer of the stage version, announced the film was going ahead, later confirming the film was aiming for a 2016 release. After a long development, Universal announced in 2016 that the film would be released in theatres on December 20, 2019, with Stephen Daldry directing. By 2024, Holzman was credited as the sole writer.

Pre-production
In May 2017, Schwartz stated that the film would feature "at least two" new songs. On August 31, 2018, Universal put the film on hold, due to production scheduling, and gave the film adaptation of Cats the release date formerly held by the film. On February 8, 2019, Universal announced a new release date of December 22, 2021, for the Wicked film. On April 1, 2020, Universal put the film on hold once again due to Universal shifting release dates amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and gave Sing 2 the 2021 release date. On October 20, 2020, it was announced that Daldry had left the production due to scheduling conflicts. On February 2, 2021, it was announced that Jon M. Chu will take over as director. In August, Alice Brooks was confirmed as the film's cinematographer, after working with Chu before on the film version of In the Heights.

In November, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were cast as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively. Grande had previously performed "The Wizard and I", a song from the musical, in the NBC special Wicked 15th Anniversary. Erivo previously had performed "I Couldn't Be Happier", a song from the musical, in the PBS special Wicked in Concert. In June 2022, Chu confirmed the hiring of Nathan Crowley as production designer. On September 21, 2022, it was reported that Jonathan Bailey had joined the cast as Fiyero. In October 2022, it was announced that Jeff Goldblum was in final talks to star as The Wizard. Goldblum completed talks by December, when Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, Aaron Teoh and Colin Michael Carmichael were added to the cast. In April 2024, it was revealed at the 2024 CinemaCon that Peter Dinklage had been cast as Dr. Dillamond.

About preparing for the role of Elphaba, Erivo said to Variety, while expressing her desire to see the stage version on Broadway again before filming: "I'm relearning everything ... I want to go and see it again. ... When I get to New York at some point I'll pop in and see the show again, that'll be my fifth time." She also said at that time that discussions were underway on what the film will look like, particularly its production design and visual style, and confirmed the hiring of Paul Tazewell as costume designer. Her request to him for Elphaba's costume when she becomes the Wicked Witch of the West involved "a Jean Paul Gaultier collection with a 'new world, kind of gilded age' feeling".

Filming
Principal photography was set to commence in June 2022 at the Sky Studios Elstree facilities in the United Kingdom. In July 2021, Stephen Schwartz indicated there were plans to film in Atlanta that year. On April 26, 2022, Chu announced the adaptation will be filmed in two parts, Wicked and Wicked Part Two, saying: "As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of 'Wicked' into a single film without doing some real damage to it ... As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one 'Wicked' movie but two! 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." In June 2022, Stephen Schwartz confirmed that a new song would be written for one of the two films: "We found it very difficult to get past 'Defying Gravity' without a break ... That song is written specifically to bring a curtain down, and whatever scene to follow it without a break just seemed hugely anti-climactic ... Even as a very long single movie, it required us cutting or omitting things that we wanted to include and that we think fans of the show and the story will appreciate. What we have discussed is that changes need to be 'additive,' to use (producer) Marc Platt's term. They need to add something to the story or the characters. They can't just be changes to do something different. I feel confident that by the time the movie is made, if we all continue to have the same degree of input, I could have a conversation with anyone who has a question about any of the changes made from the stage show and justify why I think it's better for the movie."

On July 18, it was revealed that with the filming process settled at the newly-built Sky Studios in Elstree, England, rehearsals would begin in August with principal photography beginning in November. On December 9, Chu confirmed on Twitter that filming had begun.

On September 23, Planning Statement, in support of a planning application submitted on behalf of Western Sky Limited, indicated that outdoor filming would occur at a site being developed at Ivinghoe Turf in Ivinghoe, Buckinghamshire, UK. The original planned shooting dates were between April 6, 2023 and July 14, 2023, with principal photography set to wrap on July 25, 2023, before filming was suspended from July 13, 2023 to November 8, 2023 due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Filming resumed on January 24, 2024 and concluded on January 26, with Chu then revealing that the vocals of the actors during the musical numbers were recorded live on set. Academy Award-winning production sound mixer Simon Hayes collaborated with Chu on the recordings of the actors' vocals, using a variation of the same recording techniques that were implemented on Les Misérables. Chu also cited Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook as a source of inspiration for the film's use of large-scale sets and practical effects to bring the many elements of the Land of Oz to life, including nine million colorful tulips planted on location to surround the Munchkinland set, an actual Yellow Brick Road paved on the ground with real mud and a life-size art deco-inspired train to transport Elphaba and Glinda to the Emerald City.

Post-production and visual effects
On February 6, 2024, it was confirmed on Twitter that Industrial Light & Magic and Framestore will provide the film's visual effects with Pablo Helman serving as production visual effects supervisor, and that post-production work was in progress, with Chu working remotely with editor Myron Kerstein via communication through the newly-released Apple Vision Pro.

Music
The soundtrack albums for both Wicked and Wicked Part Two will be released by Republic Records/Verve Label Group, Grande and Erivo's respective record labels. In July 2024, it was revealed that John Powell had composed the incidental underscore for the film and will do the same for Wicked Part Two. Jeff Atmajian updated William David Brohn's original orchestrations for the songs and enlarged the orchestra from the stage version's original 23 musicians to 80 for the film. The recording sessions for the orchestra took place at AIR Studios in London, with the musical's original music director Stephen Oremus conducting the song cues and Powell conducting the incidental score cues.

Marketing
On April 16, 2023, first-look pictures of the film were released through social media, featuring Erivo's Elphaba and Grande's Glinda. Exclusive work-in-progress footage from the film, featuring first listens to Grande and Erivo's respective renditions of "Popular" and "Defying Gravity", was then presented at CinemaCon on April 26, 2023, introduced on stage by Universal Pictures chairwoman Donna Langley. The first trailer for the film, in the form of a 60 second "First Look," premiered during Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, 2024. The film returned to CinemaCon on April 10, 2024 to present new footage and marked the first time the cast and crew appeared together in public to promote the film. Costumes and props were also on display in the lobby of the venue during this event. A featurette featuring behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with Chu, Erivo and Grande on how much Wicked and Wicked Part Two mean to them as a cinematic passion project, debuted at the 2024 NBCUniversal Upfront event at Radio City Music Hall on May 13, 2024 and was released online shortly after. The official 3-minute theatrical trailer for the film was released on May 15, 2024, followed by a version produced and animated entirely in the Lego brickfilm style on May 29, 2024. A behind-the-scenes television special, Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked, will air on November 25, 2024 on NBC to promote the film. The network will also host a promotional tie-in for the film during its coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris throughout the summer.

On May 20, 2024, it was announced that a wide range of merchandising for the film across toys, apparel, books, beauty products and accessories will be made available from Universal Products & Experiences ahead of the film's release. This will involve retail experiences at the Universal Destinations & Experiences and partnerships with brands including Bombas, Cambridge Satchel Company, Swarovski, Crocs, Zaks, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Hallmark, HarperCollins, Hasbro, Funko, Insight Editions, Jakks Pacific, Jazwares, Random House, Ravensburger, Spin Master, Amazon, Bloomingdale's, Forever 21, Kohl's, H&M, JCPenney, Target and Walmart. Lego and Mattel will serve as the lead toy partners. On the announcement, Vince Klaseu, president of Universal Products & Experiences, remarked: "It has been so fun to develop and expand the beloved story of Wicked and bring these incredible characters and worlds to life through magical products and immersive retail experiences; our global merchandise program across retail and theme parks reflects the film's empowering themes and bold iconography, paving the way for even more excitement in 2025 with Wicked Part Two ... Wicked is very special to us, and we can't wait for fans to embrace these inspiring characters this holiday season."

Release
Originally announced as one film, Wicked was split into two films in April 2022, with the first half currently scheduled for theatrical release by Universal Pictures on November 22, 2024, with engagements in RealD 3D, IMAX, and Dolby Cinema.

The film was previously scheduled to be released on December 20, 2019, December 22, 2021, December 25, 2024, and November 27, 2024, with the latter release date to avoid competition with Avatar 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (the former of which was later delayed to 2025 after Thunderbolts*, and later Mufasa: The Lion King took its date), before moving forward by five days to its current date to avoid competition with Moana 2, with the new date putting it against Gladiator II. The new release date would then spark speculation if pitting this film and Gladiator II together could result in a scenario similar to the Barbenheimer phenomenon resulting from the films Barbie and Oppenheimer being released together on July 21, 2023. On July 10, 2024, Gladiator II star Paul Mescal officially dubbed the pair-up as "Glicked" and voiced his support for the two films as a double feature, saying "It would be amazing 'cause I think the films couldn't be more polar opposites and it worked in that context previously. So fingers crossed people come out and see both films on opening weekend."

Continuation
The sequel film Wicked Part Two is scheduled to be released November 26, 2025, after previously being announced for December 25, 2025.