‘Wicked’ Lights Up CinemaCon with Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Director Jon M. Chu

One year after debuting the first look of Wicked at CinemaCon, Universal Pictures brought members of the magical crew to Las Vegas on Wednesday to light up the festivities, with the team including filmmaker Jon M. Chu and his leading ladies, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who had the honor of introducing exclusive footage for theater owners.

It was an emotional presentation for the Wicked team as Chu was moved to tears as he recounted finding the two performers to topline the film, and later Grande also got choked up as well.

The electric presentation — which featured on stage remarks from cast members such as Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Chu and producer Marc Platt — was telegraphed from the start as Colosseum staffers handed out Wicked lanyards to attendees when they walked into the theater. Other staffers instructed guests not to couch tulips placed in the cupholder of each seat until they were asked to.

Universal chief Donna Langley had the “privilege” of introducing Wicked team. “You all got a taste of this stunning film at last year’s CinemaCon,” said Langley. “And the world has loved this musical and celebrated it for more than 20 years. It’s proof that our future is unlimited. If that will give you a little bit of a tease. Thank you all for being here today. The wizard will see you now.”

The theater then went dark and those lanyards lit up as did the tulips in shades of pink and green, going from flashing to bright in a stunning display. The screen then featured an oversized Oz, who delivered a custom voiceover for CinemaCon.

Erivo stars as Elphaba to Grande’s Glinda opposite Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Bridgerton star Bailey as love interest Fiyero, Goldblum as the Wizard, Keala Settle as Miss Coddle, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, Bronwyn James as ShenShen and Adam James as Glinda’s father.

The story unspools as Elphaba and Glinda meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads. Glinda’s desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, has unexpected consequences on her future. Their paths set them off to fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

The adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical ⁠(both are based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire) has been in the works for years, with veteran film and stage producer Marc Platt producing alongside David Stone. Winnie Holzman wrote the script as well as the book for Broadway.

Platt and Stone also shepherded the original Broadway production, which debuted on the Great White Way 20 years ago, on Oct. 8, 2003. It went on to become a certified cultural phenomenon that launched national and international productions and has become the No. 2 highest-grossing Broadway show of all time, after The Lion King.

In crafting the big screen world based on the Broadway musical, Chu has said that he wanted the Technicolor world to feel as real as possible. “I knew what this movie could be. What does it feel like to be in Oz? Be in the dirt? Feel it in your fingertips,” asked Chu in a sizzle reel shown last year at CinemaCon, noting the project will do things that can’t be done on the Broadway stage. He said at the time that the team planted real flowers to cover Oz, rather than use CG, as he wanted Oz to feel like a real place. He later said that Grande and Erivo recorded their vocals live while cameras were rolling.

Wicked hits theaters in time for Thanksgiving on Nov. 27. A sequel, Wicked Part Two, is set to be released on Nov. 26, 2025.

More to come.