If there is one film you can’t miss this year, it’s Wicked. With a soundtrack full of its Broadway stage adaptation tunes, a star-studded cast and lots of magical special effects. Also, It’s impossible not to love the contrast between the green and pink colors. The film will hit the screens next week, and fans’ expectations are sky-high.
The plot is based on the famous Broadway musical, which offers an insight into the events that precede Dorothy’s arrival in the magical land of Oz. The story reimagines The Wizard of Oz, this time focusing on telling the friendship between Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch, and Glinda (portrayed by Ariana Grande), the good witch.
It explores how the two characters, initially opposites, become friends and allies in a world of political intrigue and prejudice. We can observe throughout events themes such as power, acceptance, female power and the complexity of what is good and what is bad.
origin of the story
Even before the emergence of the musical and its arrival on the Broadway stage, the story was a 1995 novel, titled Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, written and devised by Gregory Maguire, which was inspired by the famous written work of Lyman Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 film adaptation, The Wizard of Oz.
The idea for creating the musical came from a reading that the iconic composer and lyricist, Stephen Schwartz, did during his vacation. Already in development, the musical featured the participation of Universal, Joe Mantello and Jon B. Platt in the production. The finished work hit the Broadway stage in October 2003 and throughout the years, it won the hearts of more and more audiences. The production won three Tony Awards and six Drama Desk Awards, while its cast album received a Grammy.
Wicked arrived abroad, being produced to this day in 16 other countries, including Brazil. The first Brazilian version (2016) was a replica of the original and ran for almost a year at Teatro Renault. In 2023, after much nostalgia and many requests from fans, the show returned to the stage, this time at Teatro Santander. Glinda (played by Fabi Bang) and Elphaba’s (portrayed by Myra Ruiz) interpreters remained the same, and became big names in Brazilian musical theater, especially after their debut as the witches of Oz.
The play lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes, not counting the 15-minute break between acts. Surprisingly, the story will also be split into two movies, with each film representing one of the show’s acts. Wicked: Part 2 has a release date of November 21, 2025.
economic and cultural impact
Culturally, the film version of Wicked should further explore themes such as friendship, prejudice, power and identity struggles, which are subjects of conversation that we can strongly connect with today’s social issues. It is believed that the film has the potential to popularize the story even further, introducing greater concepts and greater insights into coexisting between different types of societies.
Economically, the film already promises to be a great success. The Wicked franchise is already quite well known in the theater world and its film adaptation indicates a significant impact at the box office, in addition to generating new flows of financial benefits through streams on the soundtracks, merchandising and possible sequels or spin-offs. The on-screen debut could also boost tourism for theater productions around the world and pave the way for even greater expansion of the Wicked brand worldwide.
The forecast, according to Deadline, for the release of the first Wicked film is moving box office expectations, with an estimated opening of between $67 million and $74 million in the first three days of the exhibition. It is also expected that the second part of the film will reach this estimate, or even surpass it, due to its huge success.
Ariana grande galindified
Since the beginning of her artistic career, Ariana Grande has had a strong connection with the Wicked universe. The actress and singer began to develop her artistic skills even better on stage, where she also ended up discovering and falling in love with the world of musicals.
When she was 10 years old, her grandmother took her to see Wicked, and from that moment, she became enchanted by the production. Since then, in several interviews, she has spoken about her desire to play Glinda. Ariana, even though she is a big celebrity, still went through all the audition process and got the job, merit of a lot of study, effort and love she put through.
On November 21st the film will be available in all cinemas, and while the highly anticipated date can’t come soon enough, how about we start getting ready now? Check out the Wicked trailer below:
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The article above was edited by Mariana Aguiar.
The article above was translated by Gabriela Andrade.
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