Wicked is a fantasy musical directed by Jon M. Chu, and produced by Marc Platt and David Stone. It covers the story of Elphaba the Wicked Witch and her unlikely friendship with Glinda the Good. The two friends struggle between keeping a positive relationship and start falling into a rivalry over opposing viewpoints. The movie features Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as the main cast. Ariana Grande plays Glinda the Good, who is caring and bubbly. Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba, who is passionate and sassy yet kind and loyal. Ariana Grande’s most popular role was Cat in Victorious, and Cynthia Erivo’s most popular role was Celie Harris in The Color Purple.
“I saw the Wicked Musical on Broadway, so I’m excited about the movie, but I’m scared that it won’t live up to my expectations,” senior Eric Inzerillo said.
Wicked is an adaptation of the original Wicked musical, which was based of the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch off the West by Gregory Maguire.
“The Wicked universe has a unique plot with a lot of twists. It has romance, magic, talking animals, it has everything,” Inzerillo said.
Wicked time-wise is set before the Wizard of Oz. This means that Wicked takes place in the same universe, but major plot points from The Wizard of Oz have not happened yet. Dorthy had not arrived from Kansas, and conflict had not begun with Glinda and Elphaba.
“I think it will be super exciting to see the worldbuilding and what happened before the Wizard of Oz”, junior Sam Glazier said.
Wicked’s release was delayed multiple times due to the pandemic, with its original release date being December 20, 2019. Chu decided that the musical should be split into two parts in order to not cut any major plot points and to expand on the characters and storyline. Around 5 years after the first proposed release date, Wicked is finally being released on November 22, 2024. The sequel, Wicked Part Two, will be released on November 21, 2025.
“There can be pressure for studios to release movies, but with the pandemic, it could give them time to reconsider and change things since they weren’t rushing,” junior Marley Guichard said.