Almost 10 years after the theatre debut of Wicked, fans have the first fleeting sight of the star-studded movie adaptation.
Director Jon M Chu, no stranger to blockbusters having helmed films such as Crazy Rich Asians and In The Heights, took to Twitter to share the first two images from the Wicked film currently in production.
One shows Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, complete with the signature acid-green skin and pointy black hat, while the other reveals Ariana Grande as Glinda with a sparkly pink dress and blonde hairdo.
“I’ve already been changed for good by these two women [Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande] as the Witches of Oz,” Chu tweeted.
“They will lift [your] spirits, break [your] heart and leave you speechless with their voices. So excited to introduce you into our world…SO much more to come…”
Erivo or Grande have yet to comment on the big reveal other than reposting the images and others’ reactions, but Grande did share a fan edit of one of her past tweets on Instagram.
I’ve already been changed for good by these two women… #CynthiaErivo & #ArianaGrande as the Witches of Oz. They will lift ur spirits, break ur heart and leave you speechless with their voices. So excited to introduce you into our world… SO much more to come…… pic.twitter.com/Z2eDt3aWX0
— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) April 16, 2023
In a 2011 tweet, the singer professed Glinda was her dream role after seeing a live production of Wicked – and it seems she has manifested her dream role into reality.
The final looks of the rest of the movie’s characters remain under wraps, the cast is jam-packed full of stars including Jeff Goldblum, Bowen Yang, Keala Settle, Michelle Yeoh and Jonathan Bailey.
Wicked debuted in 2003 as a live musical based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which was based on L Frank Baum’s 1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 film adaptation.
The storyline follows Elphaba’s journey to becoming The Wicked Witch of the West from her days as a nerdy, misunderstood university student and roommate of popular Galinda (not yet Glinda, the Good Witch of the South).
The original Broadway show confirmed the star status’ of Idina Menzel (Elphaba) and Kristin Chenoweth (Glinda), and Wicked proceeded to break box office records around the world.
Although details of the movie have been kept under wraps, Chu has announced the story would be told with two films.
“Here’s what happened: As we prepared this production of the last year, it became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of [Wicked] into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” he wrote.
“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.
“So 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 of these beloved characters.”
The first film is set for a theatrical release on November 27, 2024, with the second film to follow in 2025.
