After years of development hell, Wicked is finally beginning to take shape. With the announcement earlier this year that Jon M. Chu will be directing the film, the two leads have officially been revealed.
The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande will star in Universal’s adaptation of the hit musical. Erivo will play Elphaba while Grande will play Glinda.
A Wicked film has been in the works at Universal since 2004, a year after it debuted on Broadway. It went on to generate more than $1 billion in ticket sales, one of just three shows to do so.
Wicked adapts the novel by Gregory Maguire, and is a
take on the Wizard of Oz story, telling of the friendship between the Wicked Witch of the Wes, and Glinda the Good Witch. Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics and Winnie Holzman wrote the book for the Broadway version.
