You're Off to See the Witches: The Full Gravity-Defying Trailer for the First 'Wicked' Movie Is Here
Bringing the Broadway sensation to cinemas, Ariana Grande plays Glinda and Cynthia Erivo sports Elphaba's shades of green.
"Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?" They're the questions that the full trailer for Wicked poses in its first moments. The rest of the sneak peek, the film it's for, and both the musical and the book that it's based on all explore those queries through the tale of Glinda (Ariana Grande, Don't Look Up) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo, Pinocchio).
Film lovers, you're going off to see the witches, the powerful witches of Oz, when Wicked soars from the page and the stage to the screen in 2024. The famous and beloved theatre musical adapts a book that takes inspiration from The Wizard of Oz, and has been a show-going favourite for more than two decades thanks to composer Stephen Schwartz and playwright Winnie Holzman. Now, it's heading to cinemas as a two-part movie.
The first instalment, now just called Wicked rather than Wicked: Part One, arrives in November with director Jon M Chu (In the Heights, Crazy Rich Asians) behind the lens. Grande dons pink and Erivo sports the requisite green in both the first teaser trailer for the movie — which arrived amid the annual Super Bowl sneak-peek frenzy (see also: Deadpool & Wolverine) — and also for the just-dropped complete sneak peek.
Haven't caught the stage show on its current Australian run, including in Sydney since 2023 and in Melbourne from March 2024 , with Brisbane to come? Defy gravity in your local picture palace before the year is out instead.
In the two trailers for the film, Glinda tells Elphaba "don't be afraid". "I'm not afraid," is the fellow witch's response. "It's the Wizard who should be afraid of me." As for why, the second trailer steps through more of the plot — complete with renditions of 'Popular' and, yes, 'Defying Gravity'; Elphaba getting her black witch hat; flying monkeys; hues of pink and green aplenty; and meeting the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum, Asteroid City) in Emerald City.
Wicked follows the Land of Oz's witches, with telling their untold tale the musical's whole angle. On the stage, the show has notched up more awards than you can fit in a hefty cauldron over the years. That includes three Tonys from ten nominations, a Grammy, an Olivier Award and six Drama Desk Awards.
Joining Grande and Erivo in bringing Wicked to the cinemas is quite the who's who-style cast. Alongside Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh (A Haunting in Venice), Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), Ethan Slater (The Marvellous Mrs Maisel) and Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) also feature.
As for when the second Wicked movie will also get flickering, it's due in November 2025.
Check out the full trailer for Wicked below:
Wicked releases in cinemas Down Under on November 28, 2024.
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