Wicked: Part One is an epic musical fantasy film directed by Jon M. Chu and adapted to the screen by Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz from their 2003 stage musical of the same name, which itself is based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire and characters from the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and its 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film adaptation.
The film stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, with Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode and Jeff Goldblum in supporting roles. Set in the Land of Oz before and continuing after Dorothy Gale's arrival from Kansas, the film revolves around Elphaba Thropp, a green-skinned woman, and explores the path that leads her to become the Wicked Witch of the West, all while forming an unlikely friendship and later rivalry with Glinda Upland, who would go on to become Glinda the Good.
In 2012, Universal Pictures announced the film's development 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 concurrently alongside Part Two in England, but was paused the following summer until November 2023 due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Filming eventually resumed and concluded in January 2024.
Wicked: Part One is the first of a two-part adaptation of the musical, with this film released on November 22, 2024, by Universal Pictures. Its follow-up, Wicked: Part Two, is scheduled to be released almost exactly a year later, on November 26, 2025.
Premise[]
The story of how a green-skinned woman framed by the Wizard of Oz becomes the Wicked Witch of the West.
Cast[]
- Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba
- Ariana Grande as Glinda
- Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero
- Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard
- Ethan Slater as Boq
- Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible
- Marissa Bode as Nessarose
- Bowen Yang as Pfannee
- Bronwyn James as ShenShen
- Keala Settle as Miss Coddle
- Aaron Teoh as Avaric
- Colin Michael Carmichael as Professor Nikidik
Production[]
Development[]
In 2003, the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West 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's West End, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in the United States, as well as Germany and Japan. It was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning three, and is the 6th longest-running Broadway show in history, with over 6,100 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 Winnie 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.
Original Broadway cast members Chenoweth as Glinda and Menzel as Elphaba were mentioned as possible film leads. Lea Michele and Amy Adams were also rumored to be potential leads. Potential writers included Holzman and Stephen Schwartz, while J.J. Abrams, Rob Marshall 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 period in development, Universal announced in 2016 that the film would be released in theaters on December 20, 2019, with Stephen Daldry directing.
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 to portray Glinda and Elphaba, respectively. In June 2022, Chu confirmed the hiring of Nathan Crowley as production designer. On September 21, 2022, it was reported that Jonathan Bailey has joined the cast as Fiyero. In October 2022, it was announced that Jeff Goldblum was in final talks to star as The Wizard. Goldblum remained in 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.
About preparing for the role of Elphaba, Erivo told 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, while confirming 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 in 2021. On April 26, 2022, Chu announced the adaptation will be filmed in two parts, 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 added, while confirming that a new song will 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, 2022, 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, 2022, 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.
Release[]
Originally announced as one film, Wicked was split into two films in April 2022. Wicked: Part One is scheduled to be released theatrically on November 27, 2024, by Universal Pictures, opening against Disney's Moana 2. It was scheduled to be released theatrically on December 25, 2024, but on March 14, 2023, it was announced that it would be moved up to its current November release date to avoid competition with Avatar: Fire and Ash 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.
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