What a world we live in when Jonathan Bailey, one of several break-out stars from the hit Netflix series Bridgerton, is in talks to join the feature adaptation of Wicked. Once the ink is dry, Bailey will play Elphaba’s love interest, Fiyero Tigelaar, in the two-part adaptation of the Broadway musical and literary sensation. Arianna Grande plays Glinda the Good Witch, and Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba, also known as the Wicked Witch of the West. The two-part feature presentation will cast a spell in theaters on Christmas 2024 and 2025.
Wicked is the story that started it all! “The basis for the smash hit Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Gregory Maguire‘s breathtaking New York Times bestseller views the land of Oz, its inhabitants, its Wizard, and the Emerald City through a darker and greener (not rosier) lens. Brilliantly inventive, the story offers us a radical new evaluation of one of the most feared and hated characters in all of literature: the much maligned Wicked Witch of the West, who, as Maguire tells us, wasn’t nearly as Wicked as we imagined,” says the best-selling novel’s official description.
Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights) is directing the two-part spectacle from a screenplay by Stephen Schwartz, who penned the music and lyrics to the original Broadway show. Winnie Holzman joins Schwartz as a part of the writing team. Marc Platt produces through his Platt Productions banner.
Initially, the studio envisioned Wicked as one movie. Chu announced some months back that the project is a two-parter, saying, “We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one ‘Wicked’ movie but two!” Chu added, “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.”
Are you excited about Wicked coming to the silver screen next Christmas? If Broadway isn’t your jam, I recommend checking out Maguire’s novel. While you’re at it, pick up Lost too. Lost focuses on a distant relative of the man who inspired Charles Dickens’ character Ebenezer Scrooge. It’s awesome.