You’ve all heard about the popular, award-winning recreation of the famous Broadway, Wicked. Directed by Jon M. Chu and leading actresses Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, Wicked has made a historic milestone in the film industry and has won the hearts of many Broadway fans. 

Why is it so popular? 

Maybe Glinda told the directors the ways to become popular; it’s not tried that Wicked has changed the film industry. The movie is full of famous actors and celebrities like Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Jeff Goldblum, and many more.

Wicked won the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award at the Global Globes 2025 after releasing their movie on November 22nd, 2024. They have a 4-star rating and 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, ranking them 16th place for the top best movies in 2024. Although the stage musical Wicked was three hours long, the movie is 2 hours and 40 minutes long, and that’s only Act 1. This year, Wicked: For Good, the second act of Broadway, will be released on November 21st, 2025.

The Wicked movie was a film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked. It’s based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which was first inspired by the iconic L. Frank Baum’s novel, The Wizard of Oz. These books were then directed to Broadway and movies, leading to the production of Wicked, which was released in theaters.

The original Wicked Broadway, released on October 30th, 2003, starred Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda. With a $14 million budget, they grossed over $5.04 million in a single week. With a difference of $675.56 million, the Wicked movie grossed $680.6 million worldwide on a $150 million budget; they placed 6th as the highest-grossingsed film of 2024 released by Universal Pictures.

The Wicked Rundown (or Housedown?)

The original 1939 Wizard of Oz film, a production, was the first movie to transition from a black-and-white screen to technicolor. This is seen as Dorothy’s first step into Oz.

Walsh, also known as the Wizard of Oz, was a conman in Omaha, Nebraska, who used illusions and magic tricks to display himself as great and powerful; he named himself Oz after becoming the Wizard. He got sucked up in a tornado, similarly to Dorothy, in a hot air balloon and arrived at Oz. He fools everyone into thinking he has wizard powers when, really, he is just a normal, average, powerless conman. He tricks all the Ozians into thinking he has power—making Ozians wear green spectacles to make the Emerald City appear more bright, lively, and greener than it is. But it doesn’t stop there; everyone knows the story of The Grimmerie spellbook—only the true and powerful sorcerers can read it—though that’s what Madame Morrible and the Wizard trick you into thinking. The day Elphaba arrived at Shiz, they plotted how to use her powers to get to Emerald City to read the Grimmerie, placing her under their control. This then leads to the song, Defying Gravity, and the end of Act 1.

Wicked is a musical told from the perspective of two witches, Elphaba and Glinda, before and after the arrival of Dorothy in Oz. It goes in-depth into the friendship and the story of how Elphaba became the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda as the Good Witch. The exigence of how the witches came to be all started with the school enrollment from Shiz University, a college in Oz. At first, Elphaba was only to take care and drop off her sister, Nessarose, a wheelchair user since birth. Madame Morrible then sees her display of power and insists that Elphaba enroll at the university; she’s then placed in a shared dorm with Glinda. From the start, Glinda loathes Elphaba because of her green skin and Madame Morrible’s favoritism towards her; Elphaba dislikes Glinda’s superficial attitude and use of popularity to manipulate her fellow classmates to like her, although she is as cunning as she is bubbly. 

Throughout the story, Glinda and Elphaba become best friends the night of the Ozdust Ballroom and end up traveling to Oz together, meeting the famous Wizard of Oz. Little did they know, meeting the Wizard would have them face many challenges: flying monkeys, testing their relationship, character growth, and, most importantly, the introduction to Act 2 when Dorothy lands in Oz.

Actors who auditioned for Wicked:

When the Wicked auditions were announced, it sparked interest in many Broadway stars, actors, celebrities, singers, and more, trying to find the perfect roles to tell the incredible stories of the witches. With high standards set for this movie, it’s noquestioned why the actors they chose for the movie fit the characters so accurately. Here are some other famous actors who auditioned for Glinda, Elphaba, and Fiyero: 

Glinda:

• Renee Rapp is a 25-year-old American songwriter and actress. She played Regina George in the Broadway Mean Girls musical and the 2024 film adaptation of Mean Girls.
• Amanda Seyfried, a 39-year-old actress, has been acting since she was 15 years old. She played Karen Smith in Mean Girls, Sophie in Mamma Mia, and many lead roles in iconic movies.
• Dove Cameron is a 28-year-old actress and American singer. Acted in the famous Disney Channel show Liv & Maddie; played Mal in all Descendants movies; and many more.

Elphaba:

Weirdly enough, there was no information about who auditioned for Elphaba. Allegedly, Lea Michele, a 38-year-old actress, singer, and songwriter, was interested in the role. Lea said. “I don’t think that they’ve gotten to the point of talking to people about it yet; if they have, they haven’t called me. But, yes, I’m, like, backstage painting myself green, just waiting.”

In the Job Interview from WSJ. Style, they asked the director, Jon M. Chu, “What tips and tricks did you use to find the right Elphaba and Galinda?” His response was, “Cynthia, of course, I knew she would kill the audition, but the magnitude at which she did, when she sang in a room smaller than this, half the size of this room, you can feel her voice in your body.” – Jon M. Chu

Fiyero:

• Shawn Mendes is a 26-year-old famous Canadian pop singer-songwriter. He doesn’t have much prior acting experience, but he was a guest star in season three of The CW’s The 100.
• Ryan McCartan, 31 years old is known for playing Jason “J.D.” Dean in the original Off-Broadway cast of Heathers: The Musical. His Broadway credits include playing Fiyero Tigelaar in the 15th-anniversary cast of Wicked and Prince Hans in the closing cast of Frozen. In January 2025, he is set to take over the title role in The Great Gatsby on Broadway. He’s acted in many popular movies and shows, one being the famous Disney Channel show Liv & Maddie.

Joe & Nick Jonas: Joe Jonas, a 35-year-old singer, songwriter, and actor, was a member of the famous rock-pop band, the Jonas Brothers. Nick Jonas, a 32-year-old singer, songwriter, and actor, was also a member of the Jonas Brothers. Unlike his other brothers, he began acting on Broadway at the age of seven. “We always say we want someone with the last name Jonas to win. That’s our goal,” Nick said on the Armchair With Dax Shepard podcast. “And we were going into it… and naturally, we’re brothers; we’re competitive in sports and other things, but when it comes to our careers, I think we genuinely both look at each other like…”

Music Set Act 1

If you don’t know what Wicked is, you have definitely heard a song from them. The day Wicked premiered in theaters, many consumers caught onto the catchy Wicked playlist in Act 1. Whether this is from “Dancing Through Life” dance covers to the iconic “Defying Gravity” vibrato, Wicked has made its renowned milestone to the public. The setlist is ranked from most popular to least:

• 1 – “Defying Gravity” by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
• 2 – “Popular” by Ariana Grande
• 3 – “What Is This Feeling?” by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo
• 4 – “The Wizard And I” by Cynthia Erivo and Michelle Yeoh
• 5 – “No One Mourns the Wicked” by Wicked Movie Cast
• 6 – “Dancing Through Life” by Jonathan Bailey, Ariana Grande, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, and Cynthia Erivo
• 7 – “One Short Day” by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
• 8 – “I’m Not That Girl” by Cynthia Erivo
• 9 – “Dear Old Shiz” by Wicked Movie Cast, Shiz University Choir
• 10 – “Something Bad” by Peter Dinklage and Cynthia Erivo
• 11 – “A Sentimental Man” by Jeff Goldblum