Ariana, Cynthia and flying monkeys, oh my: Universal Pictures conjures up eye-popping trailer to ‘Wicked’
Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on September 5, 2024
Universal has dropped the most detailed look yet at its star-studded movie adaptation of the smash musical Wicked.
The movie from director Jon M. Chu stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as, respectively, Glinda and Elphaba aka the Good and Wicked witches of Oz.
The trailer shows the pair meeting and green-skinned Elphaba’s struggle to fit in — even as her “extraordinary” powers are cultivated by Michelle Yeoh‘s Madam Morrible.
In the coming attraction, both young witches go off to see the Wizard — that is, Jeff Goldblum as the avatar behind a fearsome mechanical face — and yes, they follow the Yellow Brick Road to get there at his direction.
However, he’s scheming an opportunity in splitting the pair apart. “The best way to bring folks together is to give ’em a real good enemy,” he purrs.
At this, Erivo is seen donning a pointy black hat and apparently breaking bad, flying through the window on a broom.
“It’s the wizard who should be afraid of me!” she later says defiantly.
And while the show’s celebrated music is heard throughout, both Erivo and Grande are heard — but not seen — at the close, blowing the doors off the climax of the production’s showstopper “Defying Gravity.”
The first part of the two-part epic opens in theaters Nov. 22; part two is slated for a Nov. 26, 2025, release.
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