Everything you need to know about the Ariana Grande-led ‘Wicked’ movies

Isn’t this wonderful news? After nearly 10 years in development comes the highly anticipated film adaptation of Broadway Bad Now the progress is on and finally its stars, director and possible launch dates have been revealed.

A longtime staple of the Great White Way musical since its debut in 2004, it has seen much discussion and change regarding a possible film version after it was revealed in July 2012 that Universal hoped to adapt it for the big screen.

This show is based on Gregory Maguirenovels since 1995 Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the WestTells the intertwined story of Glinda, the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch long before her Wizard of OzDorothy Gale came in. In the prequel, two future witches meet as students at the University of Shiz, learning to embrace friendship, romance, magical training, and their respective identities.

As of 2012, deadline reported that Stephen Daldry Had planned to direct the big screen event, but had left the project by October 2020 due to scheduling conflicts. Confirmed in February 2021 John M. Chu Fresh off the directing success crazy rich asian And in the heights — was tapped to direct the musical adaptation.

Chu shared a screenshot of the news via Instagram at the time, writing, “For most of my life I’ve felt out of place, weird and different.” “I hid behind my camera because people liked being filmed and I could disappear. I used my short films to surprise people so that I could feel valued. I felt green all the way. but when i saw it Stephen Schwartz And Vinnie Holzman‘S Bad More than 15 years ago, when it was edited in San Francisco, I couldn’t unsee it. So to think that I’ve been invited to bring this timeless tale to the world’s biggest screens so that people can experience it with their families, best friends and complete strangers of all walks of life, ages, shapes and colors is like being invited to Oz by the Wizard himself.

After a long casting process, the filmmaker announced it in November 2021 via social media platforms Ariana Grande And Cynthia Erivo were given the roles of Galinda and Elphaba, respectively.

“These two witches!!” He captioned his Instagram snap with a screenshot of a FaceTime conversation with the two singers. “I had an emotional moment telling @cinthiaerivo and @arianagrande that they were our Elphaba and Galinda in @WickedMovie for @unistudios. Wait till you see what they come up with!! This is supernatural. Ahhhh!!!”

Viral casting news soon caught the attention of OG Elphaba, Idina Menzel, who wrote via Instagram: “Congratulations to two amazing women. May it change your life for the better forever, as it did for us. So much love. @cinthiaerivo @arianagrande ,

Rent actress who played opposite Kristin Chenoweth During the original Broadway run, she reunited with the Oklahoma native at the 2021 Tony Awards in September, where she sang an emotional rendition of “For Good” from the production.

Sign up for our weekly FREE, daily newsletter and never miss the latest news or exclusive stories about your favorite celebrities, TV shows and more!

Keep scrolling to find out everything we know so far about the much-anticipated Bad Movies: