ReportWire

Tag: wicked movie

  • How Wicked: For Good’s Ending Differs From the Broadway Show

    [ad_1]

    Wicked: For Good, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as frenemy witches Elphaba and Glinda, stays fairly faithful to its source material. But fans of the Broadway musical may be surprised to find that Wicked: For Good also makes a few unexpected left turns not found in the second half of composer Stephen Schwartz and writer Winnie Holzman’s stage musical. Those changes—which the film’s creative team discussed with me for Universal and VF’s official Wicked: For Good podcast—mostly have to do with Grande’s Glinda the Good, who closes her character arc by stepping into her power in a new way. (Warning: Spoilers for Wicked: For Good are below.)

    Wicked: Part One focused on Elphaba’s journey from green-skinned Shiz University student to the Wicked Witch of the West. But while Erivo’s Elphaba is still front and center in Wicked: For Good, the sequel is more focused on Glinda’s turn from powerless figurehead and brand ambassador for the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) to a truly good witch who has her own magical powers. In a departure from the stage show, director Jon M. Chu includes a flashback to little Glinda, played by Scarlett Spears, at her birthday party, attempting to convince her guests that she has magical powers. It’s a moment meant to mirror the flashback scene from the first Wicked when little Elphaba, Karis Musongole, discovers her innate magical powers.

    Over the course of Wicked: For Good, written by Holzman and Dana Fox, Glinda’s perfectly manicured facade cracks as Elphaba’s power grows. In another change from the stage play, Erivo has a new song—a rousing ballad called “No Place Like Home”—which underlines her commitment to Oz. Schwartz also added a new song for Glinda, the eleven o’clock number “The Girl in the Bubble,” in which Grande’s character wrestles with her complicity in the hunt for Elphaba—and finally, actively, makes the choice to make good on her promise to truly be Glinda the Good.

    Before the end of the film, the estranged witches reconnect to sing the titular song, “For Good.” The stage show ends shortly after this number, with Elphaba “melting” after Dorothy Gale throws a bucket of water on her and Glinda pledging to the Ozians that she will try to be good. Wicked: For Good follows similar beats: After Elphaba has seemingly melted, Glinda stands up to both the Wizard and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), imprisoning Morrible and revealing to the Wizard that Elphaba was, in fact, his daughter, after discovering they both drank the same green elixir. All of this happens on stage as well.

    What’s new, though, is that in the final act of the film, both Elphaba and Glinda each get what they desire. Glinda ends the film by closing the arc on the story’s persecuted talking-animal subplot, asking for all of the Ozians to join her in inviting the recently excommunicated creatures to return to Oz. The stage play leaves this thread dangling, while in the film it’s clear that Elphaba’s sacrifice was not in vain, and that Glinda will carry through on her efforts to make Oz a safe space for all. We even see Elphaba’s favorite mammalian professor, Dr. Dillamond (Peter Dinklage), and his tiny goat glasses return to his classroom.

    [ad_2]

    Chris Murphy

    Source link

  • Jeff Goldblum Meets His Match, Literally: His Madame Tussauds Wax Figure

    [ad_1]

    Jimmy Fallon greets me at the door. He looks like I usually picture him, save for the lack of his typical Tonight Show desk: He’s suited and smiling, wearing a cornflower blue tie, right hand mid-gesture. He is also, importantly, made of wax.

    So begins my surreal journey through the Times Square location of Madame Tussauds on Wednesday, in pursuit of Jeff Goldblum and his waxen twin.

    The actor has inspired plenty of memorable works of art, both sanctioned (a 25-foot statue lounging in London in 2018 in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Jurassic Park) and not (approximately half of Etsy, where one can find Goldblum-themed prayer candles, Goldblum-dinosaur hybrid art, jewelry of Goldblum’s character in The Fly, and much more).

    Just over a year ago, in August 2024, Goldblum waxed indignant about his lack of a statue while filling in as host on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

    “It just makes me wonder off the top of my head, I don’t know, have I done something to offend the great Madame Tussaud? It’s not that I think I’m entitled to my own figure, of course, I wouldn’t think that, but I don’t want to also think that I’m unwaxable,” he said on the show.

    This week at the unveiling of his beeswax brother, Goldblum’s fears were dispelled and his waxability confirmed.

    The elevator doors open to the 7th floor, and I nod to Chris Hemsworth (wax) dressed as Thor. Very large. Smaller, guarding a portal, is Tom Hiddleston as Loki. From there, the theme of the floor abruptly shifts to New York City: Lou Reed (wax) stands near Andy Warhol (wax), whose bothered expression suggests he’s not thrilled to see me. Marilyn Monroe (wax) stands over a grate and holds her just-billowing skirt down across the room from a seated and expectant Holly Golightly (wax), who doesn’t seem to notice a grinning Selena Gomez (wax) standing just outside the Tiffany’s display window. Drew Barrymore (wax) is there in a flowing rainbow gown, and Whoopi Goldberg (wax) stands guard just before the doorway to my final destination.

    In here, it’s Christmas. There’s Mariah Carey (wax) in a Mrs. Claus getup, and a tuxedoed Leonardo DiCaprio (wax) next to a lit-up tree, not far from F. Scott Fitzgerald (wax) seated on a green leather couch. Swing a left at the mid-axel Michelle Kwan (wax), and there he is: Jeff Goldblum (wax). Later, he’ll be packed into a shipping crate and sent to his permanent home at the Madame Tussaud’s outpost in Orlando, Florida, but for today’s grand unveiling, he stands, clad in all black, on a plush butter yellow carpet in front of a forest green velvet curtain strung with white twinkle lights.

    [ad_2]

    Kase Wickman

    Source link

  • At Wicked: For Good’s New York Premiere, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Finally Reach the End of the Yellow Brick Road

    [ad_1]

    A packed house of fans in the audience—some dressed in pink, most in green—did scream when they saw Cynthia Erivo, as her character, Elphaba, had predicted in the first film’s “The Wizard and I.” They also screamed when they saw Ariana Grande, whose high, bouncy ponytail was as buoyant as the bubble her Glinda favors for transport. They screamed for Jonathan Bailey, for Bowen Yang, and for Colman Domingo, as well as Chu, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Marissa Bode, and Ethan Slater. Hell, they screamed at the very mention of Winnie Holzman, who wrote the musical’s dialogue. Let’s hear it for the book!

    Led by a contingent of uniformed Yellow Brick Road guardsmen, the film’s cast and director joined producer Marc Platt at the front of the house to rapturous applause.

    After brief remarks by Platt, Chu took on spokesperson duties for his company, who were huddled close and clutching at one another’s elbows in excitement for this final bow.

    “How do you describe what it feels like to work on a project for five-plus years?” Chu said. Once again, he marveled that the films he once worried would “end” his career—and send him back to the exile of shooting wedding videos—have instead became an unstoppable cultural juggernaut.

    “We had three children while making this movie,” Chu said of himself and his wife, Kristin Hodge, who share five kids total. “One was born on the day of the premiere last year. I watched it from the delivery room while she was pushing. I was just peeking. It was when Fiyero runs into Elphaba for the first time in the forest. I marked it, and didn’t tell [Hodge]. That’s a reveal tonight.” Surely an astrologer can work this into the kid’s chart.

    Scarlett Spears, Ariana Grande, and Cynthia Erivo.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

    [ad_2]

    Kase Wickman

    Source link

  • ‘What the America’: Walmart shopper buys Great Value ‘mystery’ mac and cheese. Why does it look like that?

    [ad_1]

    Wicked: For Good is less than two weeks away, and brands have already launched collaborations. A plethora of Elphaba and Glinda merchandise has flooded stores and online. This year marks the return and debut of old and new items, including the Great Value Mystery Macaroni and Cheese.

    What is the Wicked x Great Value collab?

    Last year, Walmart hopped on the bandwagon by launching its own Wicked-themed products in anticipation of the first film. Among them was their generic macaroni and cheese, packaged in a green-and-pink microwavable cup. Across the whimsical cups are questions in white font: “Which one will you get? Pink or Green?” When water is added, “the real magic happens,” according to the retailer’s website. Afterward, the cheese sauce will determine what color the buyer receives: Enchantingly Emerald or Perfectly Pink. 

    Does green go well with mac and cheese?

    Avid U.K.-based Wicked fan Katie (@_katiekoala_) stands in her kitchen holding the pink-and-green Great Value Mystery Color mac and cheese cup.

    “Open this monstrosity of mac and cheese with me,” she says in a voice-over. “I pray it’s not Elphaba.” Then, she preps it with 3.4 million viewers.

    First, she peels open the paper lid and pours in the water. Next, she mixes the contents with a fork and pops the cup into the microwave. Once it’s done, the content creator adds the bright green cheese powder to the watery mixtures and stirs, turning green with each whisk. Unfortunately, Katie got what she didn’t want. Subsequently, the appearance left her repulsed.

    “What is this green crap?” she asks, appalled. “It looks so gross, oh my god.”

    Viewers are disgusted

    The comments section was unanimous in its criticism of the Elphaba mac and cheese, calling it unappetizing.

    “What the America,” the top comment with over 29k likes wrote.

    “This may be worse than jojo siwa chicken curry,” another remarked, referring to the limited-edition JoJo Siwa pink curry.

    “Why [does] it look like dusty matcha?” a third questioned.

    “They should have made it a bright green at least. literally looks like molded mac and cheese,” a fourth stated.

    “Who thought this was a good idea? honestly, it looks gross,” a fifth commented.

    Suppose this bewitches you; see who you get when you purchase the mac and cheese available at Walmart. Wicked: For Good hits theaters on November 21.

    @_katiekoala_ let’s open some @Wicked: For Good Mac and cheese together ? #wickedmovie #wickedforgood #wickedmusical #meme #fyp ♬ Dr Rick Trager Chase Theme – K Crew

    The Mary Sue reached out to Katie via email and TikTok comment as well as Walmart via media contact form.

    Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

    Image of Melody Heald

    Melody Heald

    Melody Heald is a culture writer. Her work can be found in Glitter Magazine, BUST Magazine, The Daily Dot, and more. You can email her at: [email protected]

    [ad_2]

    Melody Heald

    Source link

  • Jon M. Chu Thought Making ‘Wicked’ Might End His Career

    [ad_1]

    Vanity Fair: Now that the first movie is a huge hit, be honest: How nervous were you before it hit theaters?

    Jon M. Chu: When I took this job, I was like, “Well, either my career’s going to end and I’ll go back to wedding videos, or we’re going to do something extraordinary.” It was COVID lockdown, so we wondered if movies would even exist anymore. And movie musicals were having a hard time. So I was more scared at the beginning of pre-production.

    I looked [Erivo and Grande] in the eyes and I said, “I don’t know. I can’t say I have all the answers, but we’ve got to do this, and we’ve got to ignore everybody else.” At some point, you have to turn away from the audience, face the orchestra, and conduct. And that’s what we’ve agreed to do. So in that process of shooting for a year and a half and editing, I had already shut off the outside world.

    You have a talent for casting. How do you know if an actor is right for a role?

    I think the thing for me is they have to be emotionally available, because I think that that’s what the audience wants to see. If they’re emotionally available, then we can interpret this character in many different ways, but they can incorporate an emotional truth. Our job is to go explore those things that people don’t necessarily have time to think about all the time.

    Can you give an example of a time that an actor was struggling, and how you helped them?

    Cynthia presents herself in such an untouchable way, but she was very scared about how we would portray what is essentially a caricature of a witch. The joke is, “This is the Wicked Witch. Look how crazy she is.” And Cynthia is like, “That is just not how I’m going to present her.” She doesn’t talk a lot, and Cynthia wanted more lines. So it was a very delicate balance of us finding it together. We were there to support each other. With Ariana, she had a very specific idea of who Galinda was because she loved her. We were there for each other as a group, because it’s scary to take on a movie and these roles that everybody owns, essentially.

    [ad_2]

    Rebecca Ford

    Source link

  • ‘Wicked: One Wonderful Night’: What You Didn’t See on TV

    [ad_1]

    Wicked: One Wonderful Night soared onto NBC on November 6, featuring big-voiced performances from Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and the cast of Wicked and Wicked: For Good. But the magic really happened over a month ago, when Wicked: One Wonderful Night was taped in front of a live audience at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Disclosure: I was there in my capacity as host of Universal’s official Wicked podcast.) Here’s what the cameras didn’t capture—and which moments didn’t make it to the final telecast.

    Ariana Grande and companyNBC

    A LONG YELLOW BRICK ROAD

    Audience members were instructed to arrive at the theater no later than 4:30 p.m. to guarantee entry to the taping—and they were in for a lengthy night. By the time One Wonderful Night had concluded, it was half past nine, making the event a five-hour marathon. (The Wicked superfans present, many of whom were decked out in their Ozian best, didn’t seem to mind.)

    After tucking their phones away in Yondr pouches, audience members could mingle with friendly faces from the Wicked press tour, like Bowen Yang’s Las Culturistas bestie Matt Rogers and journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist, who was able to hold space in the flesh. Some cast members that didn’t participate in the special, like little Cesily Collette Taylor—who plays baby Nessarose—were also cheering on their castmates from the audience. Director Jon M. Chu made a special appearance, introducing never-before-seen clips from the movie featured in the special. That was a recurring theme of the evening; Erivo, Grande, and Yang all teased snippets of the second film’s new songs, “No Place Like Home” and “The Girl in the Bubble,” as well as a special performance of “For Good,” sung by Erivo and Grande, filmed live at the Gershwin Theatre—only to reveal later that this footage wouldn’t actually be shown until the special aired.

    TAKE TWO

    The songs in Wicked are notoriously tricky, and some numbers at the taping had to be recorded more than once. Toward the beginning of the evening, Erivo wowed the audience with a choreography-forward rendition of “The Wizard and I,” which kicked off with her costar Jeff Goldblum—also an accomplished jazz musician—tickling the ivories. During her first shot, Erivo switched around the lyrics in the bridge of the song—understandable, as that portion uses a melody that Elphaba repeats with different lyrics throughout the show. She sang the whole thing again afterward, nailing the words on her second try.

    Erivo also took two cracks at her literally soaring rendition of “Defying Gravity,” which launched her toward the ceiling of the Dolby Theatre. Though her first rendition was note-and-word perfect, production needed to capture certain aspects of the act from different angles—which meant Erivo had to strap into her harness and belt out the number a second time, much to the audience’s delight.

    [ad_2]

    Chris Murphy

    Source link

  • Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Talk the End of the Yellow Brick Road in ‘Wicked: The Official Podcast’—And I’m Hosting

    [ad_1]

    Even so, shooting two drastically different films simultaneously was a huge challenge for everyone involved. “It actually was an extremely technical feat to go back and forth,” Chu said. “We all had to be in complete cohesion and understanding of where we were in the story emotionally.”

    Each witch had a different technique for keeping everything straight. “Sense memory is something I use a lot,” Erivo told me. “So I had a perfume for Elphaba at different points of her life. There’s a scent that’s specific to Elphaba at the very beginning. Then there’s a scent for Elphaba at the end of the film.” The fragrance work helped ground Erivo, even when she was flying high as the Wicked Witch of the West. “You get that sense memory of, Oh, this is who I am today,” she said. “There’s something biological that happens when you smell something.”

    To map out Glinda’s arc from popular girl to civil servant, Grande opted for a more visual approach. “I had a color-coding system,” she told me. “I had little tabs. We would tab each scene with which kind of insecurity was present or which incident was tapping on which childhood wound—things like that. It really helped me with the back-and-forth.” She also relied on a more old-fashioned technique: “Getting to know her as well as I possibly could, inside and out, was the most helpful thing,” Grande said. “Preparing in that way, a super actor-y way…. I’m a Stella Adler girl.”

    For so much more on how Grande, Erivo, and the rest of the cast and crew made Wicked and Wicked: For Good, tune in to Wicked: The Official Podcast, which debuts new episodes every Thursday, beginning on October 30. In addition to appearing on the podcast, Erivo, Grande, and the cast of Wicked will star in an NBC special on November 6, Wicked: One Wonderful Night, which will see them perform songs from the stage musical alongside a full orchestra at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. I was in the audience for the filming of the show; trust me, it’s not to be missed.

    [ad_2]

    Chris Murphy

    Source link

  • ‘Wicked’ First Look: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Costume

    ‘Wicked’ First Look: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Costume

    [ad_1]

    We’re certainly not in Kansas anymore. The first official teaser for Wicked, starring Grammy-, Tony-, and Emmy-winning actor Cynthia Erivo and Grammy-winning pop star Ariana Grande, has been unveiled, revealing director Jon M. Chu’s Oz for the very first time. Now, VF has an exclusive portrait of Erivo and Grande in character as Elphaba and Glinda, the witches whose friendship-turned-rivalry fuels the story, as well as the first interviews with the cast and filmmakers.

    Grande and Erivo tell VF they’ve become inseparable friends while making the movie—matching Wicked tattoos and all—and sound thrilled to be together again so soon after the shoot wrapped in January. “I actually told my mom I was really relieved we don’t have to miss each other that long,” says Grande.

    As for Glinda and Elphaba’s relationship, Grande says it’s defined by “a really selfless love and friendship. They’re both each other’s first real friend, a person who accepts them for everything that they are.” Erivo seconds that: “Once they figure out that they’re actually different sides of the same coin, they see each other clearly.” She hopes Wicked can teach an important lesson: “We are all different and the same, and the differences that we have actually make us really special. Hopefully we use those differences to introduce ourselves to one another. We aren’t pushing people away because they’re different, but we’re opening up because they’re special.”

    For Chu, Wicked is more than a megahit Broadway musical. “This is the American fairy tale,” he tells Vanity Fair. “We are in a time where we are reassessing the story of life in America. What is truth? What is a happy ending? Is the yellow brick road the road to follow? Is someone really there on the other end who’s going to give you your heart’s desire?”

    The first installment of Wicked seeks to answer those questions and more. Book writer Winnie Holzman and composer Stephen Schwartz, who adapted the Broadway show from Gregory Maguire’s novel, collaborated with Chu and Wicked producer Marc Platt to adapt the stage production for the screen. The result was apparently so splendiferous that the team felt Wicked needed to be not one but two feature films. Part one takes flight on November 27 this year. The second hits theaters November 26, 2025.

    “We didn’t want to end up making one four-hour movie and then cutting out songs. We want to satisfy the fans of the musical,” says Platt. “Film allows you to create a place and a time—a university like Shiz, an extraordinary Emerald City governor’s mansion. There’s so much more to explore.”

    Finally, we now have a glimpse at those worlds, inspired by L. Frank Baum’s classic novel and Joe Mantello’s stage version. Chu’s film realizes the hallowed halls of Shiz University and the viridescent streets of Emerald City in the most opulent way possible. “Wicked on the biggest screen had the opportunity to be the grandest, most spectacular, epic musical experience of all time,” Chu said. “It was just like, ‘Let’s put everything into this.’”

    The glittering cast also includes Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Fellow Travelers star Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Tony nominee Ethan Slater as Boq, newcomer Marissa Bode as Nessarose, and Jeff Goldblum as the legendary Wizard of Oz.

    In this portrait, taken by Sophy Holland, Grande wears a bubblegum-pink gown and tiara reminiscent of the outfit Glinda the Good wears when she first encounters Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Erivo, meanwhile, sports Elphaba’s really, uh, sharp witch’s hat. The pair stare directly into the camera, two friends ready to face their destiny.

    [ad_2]

    Chris Murphy

    Source link

  • Ariana Grande Supports Ethan Slater During Opening Night of Spamalot

    Ariana Grande Supports Ethan Slater During Opening Night of Spamalot

    [ad_1]

    Ethan Slater had at least one grande fan in the audience for opening night of his Broadway musical, a revival of Spamalot on Thursday. Ariana Grande, Slater’s real-life love interest and co-star in the upcoming two-part film adaptation of Wicked, was spotted arriving at New York’s St. James Theater to take in the show, which also stars Michael Urie and Taran Killam.

    She was photographed wearing a black strapless midi-length dress, black pointy-toed heels, pearl drop earrings, and a bright red lip. Her bleached blonde hair in a high ponytail and light pink eyeshadow were reminiscent of Glinda, her character in Wicked. She didn’t walk the red carpet or give interviews, but was spotted taking photos and signing autographs for fans. 

    On Friday, Grande commemorated the evening with a slideshow of images on Instagram captioned simply with two heart emojis. In one of the photos, the pop star is joined by her mother, Joan Grande.

    Grande and Slater’s romance was first confirmed in July, amidst a swirl of interest in both of their previous long-term relationships. Within days of rumors of their relationship surfacing, news broke that Grande had separated from her husband Dalton Gomez, and Slater separated from his wife Lilly Jay. Slater and Jay are parents to a 1-year-old. Grande’s divorce was finalized in October, and Slater’s proceedings are ongoing.

    Slater made his name on Broadway playing the titular character in SpongeBob Squarepants, the musical stage adaptation of the Nickelodeon children’s show. He earned a Best Lead Actor in a Musical nomination at the 2018 Tony Awards for his performance, though the category was ultimately taken by Tony Shaloub for The Band’s Visit. In Spamalot, a musical based on British comedy troupe Monty Python’s cult classic movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Slater plays the dual roles of the Historian, a sort of narrator for the show, and Prince Herbert.

    In Wicked, directed by John M. Chu, Slater plays Boq, a friend-slash-peon of Grande’s Glinda who nurses an unrequited love for the eventual “good witch” in the show.

    Instagram content

    This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

    Reps for Grande and Slater did not immediately return requests for comment. 

    [ad_2]

    Kase Wickman

    Source link

  • Ariana Grande Has Entered the SpongeBobverse, and It’s Already Gotten Weird

    Ariana Grande Has Entered the SpongeBobverse, and It’s Already Gotten Weird

    [ad_1]

    Things have gotten weird lately, haven’t they? Maybe it’s the heat, maybe there’s something in the air. Moviegoers are storming the streets in their neon pink finery to see Barbie, people in the Hamptons are dropping the equivalent of the GDP of small countries to keep their lawns cute, and Ariana Grande is reportedly dating one Mr. SquarePants in the wake of the announcement of her divorce from Dalton Gomez.

    Yes, Grande appears to have outed herself as something of a Nickelodeon Adult, years after she shed her Nickelodeon Child Star image, swapping “star of Sam & Cat” for “international pop star.” She is reportedly dating Ethan Slater, her costar in the upcoming two-part Wicked movie and is also a SpongeBob. Note: Not the SpongeBob. Slater starred as the extra-absorbent titular character in the original cast of the stage musical based on the children’s show, for which he earned a Tony nomination.

    At least one person would like to point out that that’s not the same as being SpongeBob on the animated show. Jill Talley is proving she’s wearing the SquarePants in her own life, and clearing up any confusion. Talley voices Karen Plankton on the TV show, and, importantly, is married to Tom Kenny, who voices SpongeBob. She took to Instagram Friday to clarify that, no, she is the only Dangerous Woman her mans is dating, commenting on a post by The Cut.

    “Hi everyone, I’m married to Tom Kenny (who voices SpongeBob on the TV show),” she wrote. “He is not dating Ariana Grande. I don’t know if Ethan Slater (who played SpongeBob in the musical) is or isn’t dating Ariana Grande. However, they’re both adorable and I totally ship it. Just wanted to set the record straight. PS: as for me and Tom Kenny—we are celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary today.”

    On her own grid, Talley shared a photo of herself and Kenny on the set of the music video for the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight” in celebration of the big two-seven.

    Oh, barnacles. It looks like we’ve entered the SpongeBobverse. As long as we respect the canon events and don’t alter the secret recipe for the Krusty Patty, all should remain calm in the pineapple under the sea.

    [ad_2]

    Kase Wickman

    Source link

  • ‘Wicked’ Good: Meet Ariana Grande’s Glinda and Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba

    ‘Wicked’ Good: Meet Ariana Grande’s Glinda and Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba

    [ad_1]

    Welcome to Oz! Like a house falling out of the sky, the first official photos from the two-part, highly anticipated Wicked films have dropped into our lives, courtesy of stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. 

    Based on the musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, the Wicked films are being helmed by Crazy Rich Asians director John M. Chu. Wicked tells the story of the frenemy-ship between Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, featuring beloved songs like “Popular,” “The Wizard and I” and “Defying Gravity.” It’s now officially the fourth-longest running Broadway show of all time, surpassing Andrew Lloyd Weber‘s Cats this month. A Wicked feature film has been in the works for almost 20 years—shortly since the musical premiered on Broadway on June 10th, 2003 and made household names of its stars Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. 

    And now, we finally have our first glimpse at our central witches. The photo of Erivo as Elphaba is shot from the back, almost completely obscuring her telltale green skin. We do however, see her sporting signature witch’s hat, looking as sharp as ever, as well as her signature broom.

    Instagram content

    This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

    In the photo of Grande as Glinda, we see her ascending a staircase from a distance, as regal as ever. Of course, she’s wearing her favorite color—pink—and we can see the side of her face in profile. Grande is also sporting her newly blonde tresses. 

    Instagram content

    This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

    Grande and Erivo are joined in the films by Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, Ethan Bailey as Boq, and Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible. 

    The first Wicked film will fly into theaters on November 27, 2024, with the second entering by bubble on December 25th, 2025. Until then, feast your eyes on these first look photos—which, as Glinda would say, are positively “splendiferous.” 

    [ad_2]

    Chris Murphy

    Source link

  • Everything We Know About the Perfectly Cast ‘Wicked’ Movies

    Everything We Know About the Perfectly Cast ‘Wicked’ Movies

    [ad_1]

    Good fortune, witch hunters! Variety has reported that none other than Michelle Yeoh, Time’s Icon of the Year and star of Everything Everywhere All at Once, has joined the cast of the Wicked movies as Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Shiz University with a penchant for making up words and controlling the weather. The news comes one day after it was announced that Broadway’s Ethan Slater had landed the plum role of Boq, the munchkin head over heels for Glinda. 

    Slater and Yeoh join the previously announced Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, and Jeff Goldblum in the wonderful world of Oz. Clearly, the cast of Wicked is taking shape, with a few key roles still to be announced and a fairly long road until the movies are ready for public consumption. Before you fly off the handle with anticipation, here’s everything we know about the Wicked movies thus far, and why we think they will be worth the wait. 

    When Is Wicked Coming Out? 

    In perhaps a bullish move, director Jon M. Chu made the decision to split Wicked into two films, with the first coming out on December 25, 2024, and the second on the same date the following year, December 25, 2025. “It became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” Chu wrote on social media on April 26 when he announced the news. “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.” So don’t worry, Ozians. It sounds like no classic Wicked songs like “Dear Old Shiz,” “A Sentimental Man,” and the absolute banger “Something Bad” will be harmed in the making of the Wicked films. 

    Who’s in It?

    After searching all of Oz, Chu found his witches in Grammy, Emmy, and Tony winner Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and pop sensation (and Broadway baby) Ariana Grande as Glinda. Given the sheer power and magnificence of their voices, and the fact that it’s been split into two films, some people think that the two beltresses should switch parts for the second film. But given the fact that Grande has gone blonde for the shooting of the film, it’s unlikely that will happen. 

    Erivo and Grande will pine over Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey, who will play Winkie prince Fiyero, and Jeff Goldblum who is in final “talks” to play the wonderful wizard of Oz. In the last 24 hours, it was announced that Broadway’s SpongeBob SquarePants, Ethan Slater, will play munchkin Boq, and Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Michelle Yeoh will control the weather as headmistress of Shiz University, Madame Morrible. The cast is, in a word, stacked. 

    Who Might Be in It?

    Other major roles like Nessarose and Dr. Dillamond remain unfilled, but the internet, however, has a few ideas as to who else might be citizens of Oz. Rumors have swirled that comedians like SNL’s Bowen Yang and Hacks scene-stealer Meg Stalter might appear in the film, although their involvement has not been confirmed. 

    Is This Casting Good?

    Not only is it good, it’s practically perfect in every way (sorry, wrong musical). Seriously though, the casting is inspired, drawing fans from multiple corners of the cultural landscape from theater and pop music to television and beyond. Not only does Cynthia Erivo—Oscar-nominated for her work as Harriet Tubman in 2019’s Harriet—have the dramatic chops necessary to pull off Elphaba, she also has a sterling voice that can blow the roof off a joint, something she demonstrated eight times a week singing the 11 o’clock number “I’m Here” in The Color Purple on Broadway, winning her a Tony Award and turning her into an international sensation overnight. There’s no way Erivo’s “Defying Gravity” won’t defy even the highest of expectations.

    As for Glinda, casting Ariana Grande, one of the biggest pop stars in the world, known for her gorgeous lyric soprano and her abiding love for Broadway—remember, she got her start in the industry starring in Jason Robert Brown’s 13—was definitely a shrewd move. It doesn’t hurt that Grande has seemingly been quietly campaigning for the role for years, going so far as to invite the original Glinda, Kristin Chenoweth, to be her special guest on The Voice when she was a coach. Given her immense talent, Broadway roots, and legions of fans, it’s no wonder Chu said “yuh” to Grande. 

    [ad_2]

    Chris Murphy

    Source link