A Bad Witch Is Born In The Land Of Oz

There are more than 50 films that have passed the $1 billion milestone at the box office, but only three Broadway musicals have ever done the same — and one of them is “Wicked.” Now, the “Wizard of Oz” prequel is trying its luck on the big screen as the first half of a two-part movie adaptation from director Jon M. Chu makes its way into theaters this Thanksgiving. Fans got their first look at “Wicked” during the Super Bowl, which was followed by a full-length trailer at the start of the summer. Now, Universal Pictures has dropped a new trailer for “Wicked” to keep things fresh.

“Wicked” stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, a green-skinned girl with a powerful talent for sorcery. She will later come to be known as the Wicked Witch of the West and suffer an ignoble defeat at the hands of a farm girl with a bucket of water. Ariana Grande co-stars as Galinda (later to be known as Glinda, the Good Witch of the South), with whom Elphaba is forced to share a dorm room at university — leading to friction and, eventually, friendship.

The film’s cast also includes Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz, Michelle Yeoh as Elphaba’s mentor, Madam Morrible, and Jonathan Bailey as love interest Fiyero.

As we’ve noted before, Universal seems very keen to avoid audiences learning two facts from these trailers: 1) that this is the only the first part of a two-part story and 2) that “Wicked” is a musical. Though this trailer uses the signature showstopper “Defying Gravity” as a backing track, it carefully avoids actually showing any characters singing. The logic sort of tracks; the people most likely to not have heard of “Wicked” before are people who hate musicals and avoid them at all costs, so there’s potential to trick those folks into buying a ticket. 

Universal also has reason to be skittish about movie musicals after the disaster of 2019’s “Cats” — though the music was probably the least off-putting element of that movie. But between this and “Joker: Folie à Deux” director Todd Phillips and star Lady Gaga insisting that their movie is definitely not a musical (“The music is a way to give the characters a way to express themselves because the dialogue wasn’t enough” Gaga explained, using what is essentially the dictionary definition of a musical), the charade is getting kind of tiresome.

Just come out of the musical closet already, “Wicked.” You’re not fooling anyone.

“Wicked” releases in theaters on November 22, 2024.