Wicked: release date, cast and trailer for the new Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande musical film

The trailer for Wicked, the long-anticipated film adaptation of the hit musical that turned The Wizard of Oz on its ear, is finally here.

Wicked: Part One stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, a green-skinned witch who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and her unlikely friend Glinda the Good Witch, played by Ariana Grande.

Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz and explores the events that happened before Dorothy’s journey on the yellow brick road. The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 2003, is hugely successful; it earned more than $1 billion (£820,000) in total revenue on Broadway in 2016.

Fans of the long-running musical have now had their first look at the movie adaptation, with the trailer debuting during the Super Bowl. Find out below what we know about the upcoming film.

When is the release date for Wicked: Part One?

Wicked: Part One will be released in the US on November 27, 2024, a month earlier than anticipated. It is unclear when Wicked will be released in the UK.

The second part is set to be released in November 2025.

Why is it being split into two parts?

Director Jon M Chu last year announced on social media that the film would be in two parts.

“Special Wicked Update / Thank you for all the support these past several months in anticipation of the WICKED movie,” he told fans. “We have so many exciting things to share but for now I’m giving you one… or two, rather.

“Here’s what happened: As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of ‘Wicked’ into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” Chu said. “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. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one ‘Wicked’ movie but two!

“With more space, we can tell the story of ‘Wicked’ as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters.”

Wicked cast

Cynthia Erivo

Elphaba will be played by English actress Cynthia Erivo, 37. She won a Tony award for leading actress in 2016 after starring in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple. Erivo played Aretha Franklin in the TV series Genius and has appeared in other TV shows including Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum and Broad City.

Ariana Grande

Pop star Ariana Grande, 30, will play Glinda. While best known for her music, Grande is no stranger to musical theatre. She made her Broadway debut in the musical 13 aged 15. She later starred in the Nickelodeon series Victorious before embarking on her music career.

Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey, 35, will play Fiyero. Perhaps best known for playing Anthony in Netflix’s Bridgerton, Bailey is also an accomplished theatre actor. He first appeared in Royal Shakespeare Company productions at age seven, before playing Gavroche in a West End production of Les Miserables.

Jeff Goldblum

Jeff Goldblum, 71, will play the Wizard. Goldblum is known for starring in major movies such as Jurassic Park, The Fly, and Independence Day, as well as several Wes Anderson films. Goldblum has also appeared on both Broadway and the West End, in plays such as Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Music Man.

Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh, 61, joins the cast as Madame Morrible. Yeoh rose to fame in the 1990s for starring in Hong Kong action films. However, Western audiences will know her for films including Crazy Rich Asians and Everything Everywhere All At Once — the latter winning her the Oscar for Best Actress.

Ethan Slater

Ethan Slater, 31, plays Boq. He is known for playing SpongeBob SquarePants on Broadway, for which he was nominated for a Tony award. He is rumoured to be dating his co-star, Grande.