Go Inside the Wicked Friendship Between Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba and Ariana Grande's Glinda (WATCH)
The first part of Universal's Wicked duology arrives on the big screen Friday, November 22.
Director Jon M. Chu's Wicked is still a few months away from its late November debut, but we've got some magical new footage to get us even more excited for one of the most anticipated films of the year.
"Wicked, to me, at its very core, is about friendship," Chu states in the brand-new featurette below, devoted to his two-part film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical production. "It starts with a really fun look at how these two young women, who are so different from each other, are forced to be roommates — and don't get along at all ... [It's about] how hard change can be, how complicated people really are."
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Those two young women are green-skinned outcast Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and popular girl Glinda (Ariana Grande) — both of whom will find themselves immortalized in the pages of Oz history. But before they became famous witches associated with the forces of good and evil, the pair of spell-casters were reluctant friends during their academic tenure at the prestigious Shiz University. Their bond seems unbreakable... that is until Elphaba meets the Not-so-Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum).
"Their friendship is gonna bring a humanity to this film that they both deeply, personally understand," Chu adds.
Watch a new Wicked featurette all about Elphaba and Glinda's Friendship
Who stars in the Wicked film adaptation?
Wicked features the talents of Erivo as Elphaba, aka the Wicked Witch of the West; Grande as Glinda, aka Glinda the Good; Michelle Yeoh as Shiz University's regal headmistress, Madame Morrible; Peter Dinkglage as the hoofed Shiz professor, Doctor Dillamond; Goldblum as the not so wonderful Wizard of Oz; Jonathan Bailey as the roguish prince, Fiyero; Ethan Slater as an altruistic Munchkin student named Boq; Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Elphaba’s favored sister; Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James as Pfannee and ShenShen, Glinda's conniving compatriots; and Keala Settle as Coddle, a new character created for the film.
Check out a new poster for the Wicked movie
When does Wicked open in theaters?
The first part of Universal's Wicked duology arrives on the big screen Friday, November 22. Part Two, on the other hand, is currently scheduled for a wide theatrical bow on November 26, 2025.
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Winnie Holzman, writer of the book for the original Broadway musical, penned the screenplays for both movies. Stephen Schwartz, who came up with the music, serves as an executive producer alongside David Nicksay and Jared LeBoff. Other veterans of the theater version are Marc Platt and David Stone, who return as producers.
