Wicked Part 1: Release, cast, plot & more
Universal Pictures Based on the hit Broadway musical, Wicked Part 1 is a highly anticipated movie musical — but when does it come out, and who’s part of the cast?
2024 has been full of amazing new movies for fans to keep their eyes on, with some of the best of the year already behind us.
While streaming services are doing some heavy lifting, theaters are winning fans back with all-guns-blazing epics, from Furiosa to Joker 2.
Another title set to round the year out with a bang is Wicked Part 1 — here’s everything you need to know about what’s to come.
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Wicked Part 1 release date: When is the film coming out?
We now know that Wicked Part 1 will be released on November 27, 2024. Part 2 is set to drop a year later on November 26, 2025.
The movie has already been held up by a lot of delays. Originally Universal announced that the movie had moved to December 22, 2021 a few months before its 2019 premiere. The pandemic changed this to December 25, 2024, for Wicked: Part 1 and December 25, 2025, for Part 2.
However, this obviously changed again following the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, keeping the films in line with the dates we now have.
Runtimes of both movies are currently unknown, but we’ll be sure to keep this page updated.
Wicked Part 1 cast: Who is in the movie?
Ariana Grande will play Glinda the Good Witch, and Cynthia Erivo will play Elphaba. On top of this, the legendary Jeff Goldblum will be playing the Wizard and Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey will be the love interest, Fiyero.
The current cast list looks something like this:
- Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible
- Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba
- Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard
- Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero
- Ariana Grande as Glinda
- Keala Settle as Miss Coddle
- Bowen Yang as Pfannee
- Bronwyn James as ShenShen
- Ethan Slater as Boq
- Colin Michael Carmichael as Nikidik
- Marissa Bode as Nessarose
- Aaron Teoh Guan Ti as Avaric
- Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond
A behind-the-scenes featurette revealed both lead reactions to being cast in the movie, which you can watch below:
Grande also told Amazon Music’s Zach Sang Show earlier this year that she had “never wanted something as badly,” explaining “Since I was 20, I was like, ‘Hey, I don’t know when this is happening, but when it’s happening, may I please at least just audition?’ That’s all I wanted, was an audition. I’ve never wanted anything more.”
Original Broadway Glinda Kristen Chenoweth took to Instagram to congratulate Grande on landing the role, writing “I’m not sure if I’ve ever been this proud. From the very first day I met you (swipe to see!!), you were destined for this role. Congratulations @arianagrande! The best Glinda you will be with @cynthiaerivo by your side I love you!!”
Original Elphaba Idina Menzel also added her own tribute, posting on X/Twitter “Congrats to two amazing women. May it change your lives for the better forever and ever as it has for us. So much love.”
Wicked Part 1 plot: Will the film be the same as the musical?
Wicked Part 1 will follow the same plot as the Broadway show, following Glinda and Elphaba in the early years of their lives and witnessing what made them the characters we see in The Wizard of Oz.
Universal PicturesHowever, there might be some changes afoot, including original new music added to the existing soundtrack.
Erivo explained to Entertainment Tonight in 2022 “I think it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. I think we’re going to enjoy the magic of it. We’re going to try and put our own spin on what we know already and show you a story about two women [who] are sisters.”
Composer Stephen Schwartz told The Messenger “There are some expansions of stuff in the first movie. The point being, the new songs were written because of the demand of the story, not, ‘Oh, let’s write a new song and stick it in just because.’ The storytelling required it, and therefore they were created — the intention was that they were organic and not imposed on the movie.”
“It’s been very important to us to make sure that it is the show, that it is the story that the fans love and that they’re coming to expect and not disappoint them,” he continued. “And at the same time, [it was also important to] be able to expand the story to make use of what the language of film and the technology of film allows you to do. As we talked about the story we wanted to tell, it was impossible really to get into one movie unless the movie were four hours long. And so the decision was made to make two movies. And consequently, there’s new stuff that I think the fans will enjoy.”
Wicked Part 1 trailer
The very first look for Wicked Part 1 was released during the 2024 Super Bowl, which you can check out here:
The full trailer was released on May 15, as seen below:
Find even more amazing new movies and TV shows streaming this month, or dive into all the new true crime documentaries around right now. If that’s not enough, find out what’s in store this year for K-dramas coming to Netflix.
