The Wicked movie adaptation has finally found its leads with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo set to headline the movie adaptation of the popular Broadway musical.
Directed by Jon M. Chu, Wicked will see Erivo play Elphaba while Grande will play Glinda. Wicked has been in development since 2004, which is a year after it debuted on Broadway. The adaptation has seen several delays with the most recent being shifting its shooting location from Atlanta to the U.K. Filming is now expected to begin in June 2022.
Wicked is based on the novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire, which was adapted into the 2003 musical that starred Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. The story of Wicked serves as a prequel to the L. Frank Baum Oz novels, telling of Elphaba and Glinda, who go on to be known as the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the North in the future of the Land of Oz. Wicked was a massive hit on Broadway and by March 2016, the musical surpassed $1 billion in total Broadway revenue, joining both The Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King as the only Broadway shows to do so. In 2017, Wicked surpassed The Phantom of the Opera as Broadway’s second-highest-grossing musical, trailing only The Lion King.
Grande and Erivo are clearly excited to join the project as they both took to social media to share their announcements on Instagram. Both artists are more than qualified to take this on as they both come with impressive musical resumes. Erivo is a Grammy-, Emmy-, and Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and producer, as well as an Oscar, Golden Globe, and SAG nominee for her role in Harriet. Erivo first garnered widespread attention in the West End and Broadway productions of The Color Purple. She was recently nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in National Geographic’s anthology series Genius: Aretha and she released her debut album, Ch. 1 Vs. 1 back in September.
Grande is a true pop-cultural phenomenon having made her mark in music, television, and movies. She is a Grammy-winning artist and is the first person to hold the top three Billboard Hot 100 spots since The Beatles in 1964 with “7 Rings,” “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored,” and “Thank U, Next.” Last year, she became the first and only artist to have five singles debut at #1 in the chart’s history. This year, she made history as the first artist to simultaneously hold three top 10 spots on Billboard Pop Airplay and Mediabase Top 40 Charts with “positions,” “34+34” and “pov.” By age 28, she released six albums that have all gone platinum and have surpassed 98 billion streams globally. To top it off, she’s Spotify’s most-streamed female artist of the past decade. Grande got her mainstream start on Nickelodeon’s Victorious which led to a spin-off starring her character in Sam & Cat. In 2016, Grande starred as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray Live! for NBC and she also appeared on Fox’s Scream Queens. She is currently a coach on NBC’s The Voice and is starring in the upcoming Adam McKay film Don’t Look Up, on Netflix.
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