Attention Wicked fans! The first batch of photos from the musical’s highly anticipated movie adaptation has finally been released.
On 16 April, the film’s director Jon M. Chu surprised his Instagram followers when he uploaded two brand-new stills from the project.
“You weren’t told the whole story. What happens when you veer off the Yellow Brick Road? FIRST LOOK of the #WickedMovie… currently in production in Oz,” he wrote.
The first photo shows Cynthia Erivo as the green-skinned witch Elphaba Thropp atop what looks to be a clock tower. Like her stage musical counterpart, the talented singer wears a black cloak and matching witch hat while gripping a broomstick.
In the second photo, Ariana Grande’s Glinda Upland can be seen running up a flight of stairs – presumable towards Elphaba – sporting a dazzling bright pink gown and the character’s iconic blonde hair.
Shortly after the photos were uploaded, musical theater fans flocked to social media to express excitement over the first-look snapshots.
One fan tweeted: “You have worked MAGIC Jon. This is incredible!!!! Looks magical- I’m being transported to beside Glinda and Elphaba just by looking at these!!!”
Another person on Instagram wrote: “THANK YOU @jonmchu. This is the greatest gift. These pictures make me so excited, and I can see you’ve looked after this story and there characters. Thank you.”
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The spectacular new photos come a few months after Chu announced that the project would be split into two parts – with the first film being released in 2024 and the second in 2025.
“We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one Wicked movie but two,” he wrote on Twitter in August 2022.
“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 of these beloved characters.”
A few months after his shocking announcement, Chu revealed that the release date for Wicked: Part 1 was moved from 25 December 2024 to 27 November 2024.
“We are deep into production on ‘Wicked’ and every day we get more and more excited to share with u the mischief we’ve been up to,” Chu wrote.
“So… We’ve decided to get it to you all a little earlier than planned. A little Thanksgiving treat!”
Based on Gregory Maguire’s bestselling novel of the same name, Wicked: Part One will explore how the misunderstood green-skinned Elphaba became the Wicked Witch of the West and her unlikely friendship with the future “Good Witch” of Oz, Glinda.
The sure-to-be iconic film is also set to feature Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero Tigelaar, Jeff Goldblum as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Ethan Slater as Boq, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible and Marissa Bode as Nessarose Thropp.
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