Wicked movie: Everything we know about the musical adaptation

Based on the hit Broadway musical, Wicked Part 1 is a highly anticipated movie musical — but when does it come out, and who’s part of the cast?

2024 has been full of amazing new movies for fans to keep their eyes on, with some of the best of the year already behind us.

While streaming services are doing some heavy lifting, theaters are winning fans back with all-guns-blazing epics, from Furiosa to Joker 2.

Another title set to round the year out with a bang is Wicked Part 1 — here’s everything you need to know about what’s to come.

Wicked release date

Wicked Part 1 will be released on November 22, 2024.

Universal Pictures

The live-action adaptation was originally scheduled to be released on November 27 but has been pushed forward. It’s thought that this was to stop it from rivaling Moana 2, though the film now is released on the same day as Gladiator 2 in the US.

The movie has already been held up by a lot of delays. Originally Universal announced that the movie had moved to December 22, 2021 a few months before its 2019 premiere. The pandemic changed this to December 25, 2024, for Wicked: Part 1 and December 25, 2025, for Part 2.

However, this obviously changed again following the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, keeping the films in line with the dates we now have.

Part 1 runtime

Amazingly, Part 1 clocks in at 2 hours and 40 minutes – and that’s for just half the story.

If you compare this with the original Broadway show, the full musical clocks in around the three-hour mark, complete with an interval.

You can find out more about how the film mirrors the show by reading on, but let’s just say this… if you need a pee break, you’ll need to time it carefully.

Wicked cast

Ariana Grande plays Glinda the Good Witch, and Cynthia Erivo stars opposite as Elphaba. On top of this, the legendary Jeff Goldblum appears as the Wizard, and Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey is love interest Fiyero.

Universal Pictures

The full cast list looks like this:

• Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible
• Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba
• Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard
• Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero
• Ariana Grande as Glinda
• Keala Settle as Miss Coddle
• Bowen Yang as Pfannee
• Bronwyn James as ShenShen
• Ethan Slater as Boq
• Colin Michael Carmichael as Nikidik
• Marissa Bode as Nessarose
• Aaron Teoh Guan Ti as Avaric
• Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond

A behind-the-scenes featurette revealed both lead reactions to being cast in the movie, which you can watch below:

Grande also told Amazon Music’s Zach Sang Show earlier this year that she had “never wanted something as badly,” explaining “Since I was 20, I was like, ‘Hey, I don’t know when this is happening, but when it’s happening, may I please at least just audition?’ That’s all I wanted, was an audition. I’ve never wanted anything more.”

Original Broadway Glinda Kristen Chenoweth took to Instagram to congratulate Grande on landing the role, writing “I’m not sure if I’ve ever been this proud. From the very first day I met you (swipe to see!!), you were destined for this role. Congratulations @arianagrande! The best Glinda you will be with @cynthiaerivo by your side I love you!!”

Original Elphaba Idina Menzel also added her own tribute, posting on X/Twitter “Congrats to two amazing women. May it change your lives for the better forever and ever as it has for us. So much love.”

Who is directing?

Jon M. Chu is heading up both films – you’ll likely know him from In The Heights, Crazy Rich Asians, and Step Up 2.

The Reader’s Stephen Daldry was originally set to direct, with Chu being brought in after Daldry stepped down.

In an early statement, Chu explained why he chose to split the musical across two movies. “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,” he shared on Twitter.

“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.”

Wicked plot: Will the film be the same as the musical?

Wicked Part 1 will follow the same plot as the Broadway show, following Glinda and Elphaba in the early years of their lives and witnessing what made them the characters we see in The Wizard of Oz.

Universal Pictures

However, there might be some changes afoot, including original new music added to the existing soundtrack.

Erivo explained to Entertainment Tonight in 2022 “I think it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. I think we’re going to enjoy the magic of it. We’re going to try and put our own spin on what we know already and show you a story about two women [who] are sisters.”

Composer Stephen Schwartz told The Messenger “There are some expansions of stuff in the first movie. The point being, the new songs were written because of the demand of the story, not, ‘Oh, let’s write a new song and stick it in just because.’ The storytelling required it, and therefore they were created — the intention was that they were organic and not imposed on the movie.”

“It’s been very important to us to make sure that it is the show, that it is the story that the fans love and that they’re coming to expect and not disappoint them,” he continued. “And at the same time, [it was also important to] be able to expand the story to make use of what the language of film and the technology of film allows you to do. As we talked about the story we wanted to tell, it was impossible really to get into one movie unless the movie were four hours long. And so the decision was made to make two movies. And consequently, there’s new stuff that I think the fans will enjoy.”

Is there a trailer?

Yes! The very first look for Wicked Part 1 was released during the 2024 Super Bowl, which you can check out here:

The full trailer was released on May 15, as seen below:

When will Part 2 be released?

Part 2 is set to drop a year later on November 21, 2025. The movie has also moved five days forward from its original release date of November 26.

Wicked drops worldwide in theaters on November 22. In the meantime, check out how to get early access tickets, find new movies streaming this month, alongside the best movies of the year so far.