‘Wicked’ release date, cast and everything else you need to know

New movie Wicked is being released in cinemas later this month starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

It is a movie adaptation of the beloved Broadway show of the same name and is being released as two separate films matching the play’s two parts.

Wicked tells an alternative backstory to the Wizard of Oz, giving us the untold story of the Witches of Oz and an explanation of how some of the characters came to be.

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Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo play the main characters, Glinda and Elphaba. Despite their differences, the two become unlikely friends and embark on a journey in the Wizard of Oz universe.

Green-skinned Elphaba is a misunderstood girl who eventually becomes known as the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda is the perfect and popular “Good Witch”.

Wicked The Musical premiered on Broadway in 2003 and has become a massive theatre success. The award-winning Broadway show was based off the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.

Director Jon M. Chu, known for Crazy Rich Asians and In The Heights, officially cast Ariana and Cynthia as his starring ladies back in 2021, but he has been thinking about it for much longer than that.

On casting Ariana as Glinda, Chu said: “Every time she came in, it was not recognizable as Ariana Grande, the person you know. It was Glinda - she like lived this character. I felt like I was meeting the real Glinda for the first time.”

The two stars have become very close since working on the movie together and they publicly shed many tears during the premiere in Sydney last week.

In one promo, Ariana said: “I'm annoyed. I'm tired. My tear ducts… I'm tired, emotionally tired.”

And Cynthia added: “We've come through a massive, massive thing and we've really stuck together.”

The UK premiere takes place in London on Monday 18 November, and the city has already been taken over with pink and green merch ahead of the event.

When is Wicked in cinemas?

Wicked Part One will be released to UK cinemas on Friday 22 November. Part two has a projected release date of November 26, 2025.

Who makes up the cast of Wicked?

Ariana Grande as Glinda

Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba

Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero

Ethan Slater as Boq

Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible

Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard

Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond

Bowen Yang as Pfannee

Keala Settle as Miss Coddle

Marissa Bode as Nessarose